By the end of this course you’ll be able to: Objectives: Lesson 3: Detailed

3: Detailed Study of English Vowels
Diphthongs and Triphthongs
Mohammed Kheider University
English

Department
Module: Phonetics

F
i
r
s
t

Y
e
a
r

LMD

LEVEL

Lecturer:
Mr.Aounali

1- Define the diphthongs

2- Recognise how the diphthongs are articulated and represented in the vowel chart.

3- Distinguish between the diphthongs and the triphthongs.

4- Pronounce the previous vowel sounds in some words with correct pronunciation.

or a gliding vowel is a term used in the

phonetic classification of vowel sounds. It refers to a glide or a movement from one vowel to another one in which the first part is more prominent than the last. It involves a change in quality within the one vowel, they are classified according to their ending into two types as follows: Closing diphthongs end in /ɪ/ like /eɪ/, /ɔɪ/, /ɑɪ/ or /ʊ/ like/əʊ/, /ɑʊ/
Centering diphthongs end in /ə/ like/ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/.

In British English, we have 20 vowel sounds divided into 5 long vowels and
7 short vowels. In addition to the previous 12 pure vowels, we have 8 gliding vowels which are a combination of two short vowels that make one sound called a diphthong. Triphphongs are the closing diphthongs plus a schwa.

the articulation of /eɪ/:

/əʊ/:

vowel /eə/ begins with a
mid-open front position and moves

to more open variety of /ə/ especially in word final position as in there /ðeə/. However, in word-medial position the second element , /ə/ tends to be neutral as in parent /ˈpeərənt/. The lips remain neutrally open throughout the diphthong.

another and then to
a third, all produced rapidly and without

interruption.
For example, a slow pronunciation of the word “hour”
begins with a vowel quality similar to /ɑː/ and goes on
towards /ʊ/ then ends with schwa /ə/ to get /ɑʊə/.

The triphthongs are composed of the five closing diphthongs with schwa /ə/ added to the end:

/eɪ/ + /ə/ = /eɪə/ i.e: Player /ˈpleɪə/, payer /ˈpeɪə/
/ɑɪ/ + /ə/ = /ɑɪə/ i.e: Fire /ˈfɑɪə/, higher /ˈhɑɪə/
/ɔɪ/ + /ə/ = /ɔɪə/ i.e: Loyal /ˈlɔɪəl/, royal /ˈrɔɪəl/
/əʊ/ + /ə/ = /əʊə/ i.e: Lower /ˈləʊə/, slower /ˈsləʊə/
/ɑʊ/ + /ə/ = /ɑʊə/ i.e: Our–hour /ˈɑʊə/, power /ˈpɑʊə/

Pronunciation in Use, Elementary Level, pp 68-74
2- Jones, D. (1960)

Outline of English Phonetics, (9th edition). Cambridge University Press.
3- Tench, P. (2011) Transcribing the Sound of English, (1st edition). Cambridge University Press.