triphthong
/ˈtrɪfθɒŋ
/ /ˈtrɪpθɒŋ /noun
1A union of three vowels (letters or sounds) pronounced in one syllable (as in fire). Contrasted with diphthong, monophthong.Diphthongs and triphthongs do not come into the picture at all....
- Words such as course and force are sometimes realized with a triphthong //, especially among older speakers.
- Leaving the triphthongs aside for now, when diphthongs occur, they vary, causing new phonemes to arise.
1.1Three written vowel characters representing the sound of a single vowel (as in beau).For one, there is no such thing as a triphthong in Latin....
- If two or three strong vowels are together, they do not produce the single diphthong or triphthong sound and are instead pronounced as separate syllables: fea, leo, lee, peleándose and Isaac should be pronounced, Is-a-a-c.
- Vowels, diphthongs, triphthongs and consonants are taught using the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for the purpose of eliminating regional characteristics in the student's speech pattern.
Derivatives
triphthongal
- There is always triphthongal synalepha when a is the middle vowel; or when o or e is the middle vowel, except in the following combinations, aoa, aoo, ooo, aea, aeo, oea, oeo.
- It does seem that some forms of English have a triphthongal [aI@].
- In actual words, these unstressed vowels are written ‘i/u ’, ‘e/o ’, ‘a’, ‘ai/au ’, and ‘eai/oau’ (triphthongal), i.e., marking roundness but omitting the diacritics placed on stressed vowels of the same quality (since they are redundant due to vowel harmony).
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French triphtongue, from tri- 'three', on the pattern of diphthong.