Page 102 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics

Notes Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs. In some languages, such as Old English, these
behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and two morae, respectively. In other languages,
however, such as Ancient Greek, they occupy two and three morae, respectively, with the first element
rather than the diphthong as a whole behaving as a short or long vowel. Languages that contrast
three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami is known to
contrast long, short and “finally stressed” diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a long
second element.
8.2 Difference from a Vowel and Semivowel

While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same as a combination of a vowel
and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus
while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either the onset or the coda). This
often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction. though this phonetic distinction
is not always clear. The English word yes, for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a
monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, while the segmental elements must be
different in diphthongs so that [ ii ], when it occurs in a language, does not contrast with [i:] though
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it is possible for languages to contrast [ij] and [i:].
Examples

Germanic languages

English

All English diphthongs are falling, apart from /ju:/, which can be analyzed as [ iu :].
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In words coming from Middle English, most cases of the Modern English diphthongs [ aw , o , ew , a ]
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originate from the Middle English long monophthongs [i:, ]]:, a:, u:] through the Great Vowel Shift,
although some cases of [ o , ew ] originate from the Middle English diphthongs [ u] , aw ].
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Standard English diphthongs
RP (British) Australian American GA Canadian
c
o
cœ
low [ ] ) [ ] ) [ ] )
a
loud [ ] )
a
a
]
F
[ ] ) [ ] ) [ ] )

lout [ ] ) [t2 1 ]
lied [ ] )
al
al
light [ ] ) [ ] eY ) [ ] l ) [t2 1 ]
el
el
lane [ ] ) [ ] lF ) [ ] )
loin [ ] l] ) [ ] ) [ ] l] )
ol
œ+
loon [u+] [ ] [ ] u ) [t22 ]
)
leen [i+] [] ) [t22 ] [] i+ [t22 ]
li

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