DIPHTHONGS

Kinds of Diphthongs
READ THE FOLLOWING WORDS. CATEGORIZE
BASED ON THE VOWEL DIPHTHONGS
PRESENT ON THEM.

rate how cow

noise ride
late bone pound
phone nice
base join no
joy life
Diphthong is a vowel sound in which the tongue
changes position to produce the sound of two
vowels.

(Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)

Diphthong is a single sound produced when two

vowels (one dominant in duration and stress, and
one reduced in duration and stress), are paired
together in a sequence.

(Linda I. House: Introductory Phonetics and Phonology)

DIPHTHONGS
are those sounds which combine
two vowel sounds and which blend
them into one within a syllable.

- Some vowel sounds have

diphthongal quality

- Tend to be long because of the time

needed to glide forward to another
position
 Combination of two vowel sounds
that forms a new sound with the first
vowel usually given prominence
 8 DIPHTHONGS

/e/,, //, /a/, /a/, //, //,

/e/, and //.
e
DAY
FACE
WAIT
usual spellings of e

a*e ai ay - -
age aim way
face fail play
plate chain spray
save paint
shaped praise

other spellings

eigh ea ey aigh -
eight break they straight
weigh great grey
weight

British English only

BOAT
KNOW
GO
usual spellings of

o*e oa o ow -
nose boat so low
vote road old show
home coast most know
smoke soap both throw
whole bowl

other spellings

ew oe ough - -
sew toe though
a
MY
HIGH
FIVE
usual spellings of a

i*e igh y i* -
file high by find
life night fly wild
five flight try climb
shine why

other spellings

ie y*e i eigh -
die type I height
lie style hi
pie
a
NOW
OUT
DOWN
usual spellings of a

ou ow - - -
out now
loud town
proud crowd
sound
ground

other spellings

ou*e - - - -
house
mouse
bounce

BOY
CHOICE
usual spellings of

oi oy - - -
oil boy
coin toy
noise joy
choice
point

other spellings

- - - - -

British English only

HERE
NEAR
BEER
usual spellings of

ear eer - - -
ear beer
near deer
clear steer
hear
fear

other spellings

ere ier - - -
here fierce
e
British English only

WEAR
CARE
THERE
usual spellings of e

air are - - -
air care
pair share
chair square
stairs

other spellings

ear ere eir - -

bear there their
wear where
swear

British English only

POOR
SURE
JURY
usual spellings of

ure - - - -
cure
pure
sure

other spellings

oor our - - -
poor tour
DIPHTHONG SOUNDS:

1. /ai/ - time, might, sigh, pie, height,

rhyme, pint, flyguide, aisle, sigh,
fried, buy, climb

2. / i/ - point, oil, soil, joy, ploy, coin,

join, moist, poise, noise, voice,
annoy, buoy

3. /au/ - now, brown, sound, blouse, mouth,

plow, crown, ouch, howl, bough, proud,
out