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Meaning of "diphthong" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD DIPHTHONG

From Late Latin diphthongus, from Greek diphthongos, from di-1 + phthongos sound.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF DIPHTHONG

diphthong  [ˈdɪfθɒŋ] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF DIPHTHONG

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Diphthong is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES DIPHTHONG MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Diphthong

A diphthong, also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. For most dialects of English, the phrase "no highway cowboys" contains five distinct diphthongs. Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs, where the tongue or other speech organs do not move significantly and the syllable contains only a single vowel sound. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables—for example, in the English word re-elect—the result is described as hiatus, not as a diphthong. Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds.

Definition of diphthong in the English dictionary

The definition of diphthong in the dictionary is a vowel sound, occupying a single syllable, during the articulation of which the tongue moves from one position to another, causing a continual change in vowel quality, as in the pronunciation of a in English late, during which the tongue moves from the position of (e) towards ((ɪ)). Other definition of diphthong is a digraph or ligature representing a composite vowel such as this, as ae in Caesar.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH DIPHTHONG


monophthong
ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ
pakthong
pækˈθɒŋ
thong
θɒŋ
triphthong
ˈtrɪfθɒŋ

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE DIPHTHONG

diphone
diphosgene
diphosphate
diphtheria
diphtheria vaccine
diphtherial
diphtheric
diphtheritic
diphtheritis
diphtheroid
diphthongal
diphthongally
diphthongic
diphthongisation
diphthongise
diphthongization
diphthongize
diphycercal
diphyletic
diphyllous

WORDS THAT END LIKE DIPHTHONG

along
among
belong
dong
for a song
gong
Guangdong
Haiphong
hong
Hong Kong
in the wrong
Lapsang Souchong
long
mong
Qui Nhong
so long
song
souchong
strong
wrong

Synonyms and antonyms of diphthong in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «diphthong» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF DIPHTHONG

Find out the translation of diphthong to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of diphthong from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «diphthong» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

双元音
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

diptongo
570 millions of speakers

English

diphthong
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

संयुक्त स्वर
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

إدغام
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

дифтонг
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

ditongo
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

সন্ধিস্বরধ্বনি
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

diphtongue
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Diphthong
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Diphthong
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

二重母音
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

이중 모음
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Diphthong
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

nhị trùng âm
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

உயிர் எழுத்துக்கள் இணைந்த ஒலி
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

दिपथॉंग
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

diftong
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

dittongo
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

dyftong
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

дифтонг
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

diftong
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

διφθόγγου
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

diftong
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

diphthong
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

diftong
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of diphthong

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «DIPHTHONG»

The term «diphthong» is regularly used and occupies the 76.045 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Regularly used
65
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «diphthong» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of diphthong
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «diphthong».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «DIPHTHONG» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «diphthong» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «diphthong» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about diphthong

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «DIPHTHONG»

Discover the use of diphthong in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to diphthong and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
A comprehensive pronouncing and explanatory dictionary of ...
This diphthong U pronounced like long o in yeoman, and like long e in people ; like short c in jeopardy jeopardy, leopard, fcojtoe, /coffer, feoffment; like broad o ( as in tier) in georgic; like long u in fcod,feodal,feodary, (which are written also ...
Joseph Emerson Worcester, 1858
2
A Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language
In Danish and Swedish, it is like the French and Dutch u. Diphthongs. JIE or A. — The sound of the diphthong ne, in Dutch, is like the English sound of a in far; in German, the sound of ae or U is like that of the English long a, as in fate. J9I.
Joseph Emerson Worcester, 1866
3
Linguistica Uralica
(A) total duration of the diphthong (B) duration of the diphthong segments (C) FO maximum of the diphthong (D) F0 values at the two diphthong segments (E) acoustic vowel quality at the typical quality steady states of the diphthong segments.
4
The Vowel and Diphthong System in Scottish Standard English
Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, http: //www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: Local and Global Varieties of English, 15 entries in ...
Annett Gräfe, 2013
5
A Course in Phonetics
Try some other pronunciations, starting, for example, with the vowel [œ] as in bad. In this case, the result is a somewhat affected pronunciation. The diphthong [aI], as in high, buy, moves toward a high front vowel, but in most forms of English, ...
Peter Ladefoged, Keith Johnson, 2014
6
A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the ...
526, the consonants t, d, c, and *, after the secondary accent, are exactly under the same predicament as after the primary ; that is, if they are followed by a diphthong or diphthongal vowel, these consonants are pronounced like sh, tsfi, zh, OTJ, ...
John Walker, 1807
7
Dialect Geography of Syria-Palestine, 1000-586 B.C.E.
then, original diphthongs were pronounced in place names, the spoken language had diphthong contraction. The link between these phonetic extremes is represented by a pair of words in which one lacks a marker of the original diphthong ...
W. Randall Garr, 2004
8
Phonics from A to Z: A Practical Guide
Diphthong. /oi. Diphthong. /ou/. Phono^ams. Variant Vowel /oo/ Phono^ams Variant Vowel /oo/ Phono^ams. Many trade books feature words with phonograms. These books can be used for independent reading. -oil -oin -oint - oise -oist -oy oil ...
Wiley Blevins, 1998
9
From Latin to Spanish: Historical phonology and morphology ...
The Process of Diphthongization Before we look at the possible causes for the diphthongization of /e/ and /o/, we must define just what a diphthong is. A recent definition of a "segmental diphthong" is: "a single segment whose central phase is ...
Paul M. Lloyd, 1987
10
Acoustics of American English Speech: A Dynamic Approach
phoneme. When a glide follows a vowel, and combines with it, a diphthong is formed. Diphthongs are often considered to be single phonemes in English. We are going to begin our discussion by observing the diphthongs and continue with  ...
Joseph P. Olive, Alice Greenwood, John Coleman, 1993

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «DIPHTHONG»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term diphthong is used in the context of the following news items.
1
The history of the word 'bad'
... elsewhere in West Germanic and, quite probably, outside Germanic, though Old English had the puzzling form cwead, with a long diphthong. «OUPblog, Jun 15»
2
Tom DeLonge's voice, explained by science
Nosowitz's entire piece is exhaustive, fascinating, and informative, introducing you to terms like trop-bocking, diphthong, and oo-fronting. «City Pages, Jun 15»
3
A Linguistics Expert Analyzed Tom DeLonge's Vocals
“In most American English it's a diphthong.” A diphthong is a vowel sound with two simpler sounds in it; for most Americans, “date” is a kind of ... «PropertyOfZack, Jun 15»
4
I Made A Linguistics Professor Listen To A Blink-182 Song And …
“In most American English it's a diphthong.” A diphthong is a vowel sound with two simpler sounds in it; for most Americans, “date” is a kind of ... «Atlas Obscura, Jun 15»
5
Restaurants in Portugal: readers' travel tips
One of the commonest errors of English speakers when trying to speak Portuguese is to replace the very common diphthong "ei" by "ie". «The Guardian, Jun 15»
6
Alan Cumming: My favourite thing about life in Australia
The lady I was dealing with was a true blue Aussie, replying to all my questions with a monosyllabic “Yis” or the diphthong heavy “No worries. «The Globe and Mail, May 15»
7
USWNT's Christen Press interview: 'I lost everything but learned to …
in poetry, the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enough to each other for the echo to be ... «The Guardian, May 15»
8
Hay Fever, Duke of York's Theatre
But what an odd decision not to employ the accent actors know as “heightened RP”, the diphthong-curlicued vocal styling of every Englishman ... «The Arts Desk, May 15»
9
Diaeresis Diarrhea
... sound engulfing me, letters and words bantering, articulate nebbishes, my dearest Chloë shouting out desperately, “I am not a diphthong! «The Portland Mercury, Apr 15»
10
Those quizzes are fun, except for the ones with British poets in them
Then to give examples of trigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters and linguals. (Hand me a dictionary, please.) Under geography, the ... «News Sentinel, Apr 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Diphthong [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/diphthong>. Apr 2024 ».
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