Triphthong

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In phonetics, a triphthong (from Greek τρίφθογγος, "triphthongos", literally "with three sounds," or "with three tones") is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target articulator position, diphthongs have two, and triphthongs three.

Contents 1 Examples 1.1 Stress on the first element 1.2 Stress on the second element 1.3 Stress on the third element 2 See also

[edit] Examples

[edit] Stress on the first element

English in British Received Pronunciation (these can be also analyzed as disyllabic sequences of a diphthong and a monophthong):

• [aʊ̯ə] as in hour
• [aɪ̯ə] as in fire
• [eɪ̯ə] as in player
• [ɔɪ̯ə] as in loyal, royal
• [əʊ̯ə] as in lower

Bernese German (a Swiss German dialect):

• [iə̯w] as in Gieu 'boy'
• [yə̯w] as in Gfüeu 'feeling'
• [uə̯w] as in Schueu 'school'
• [yə̯j] as in Müej 'trouble'

Latvian:

• [iea] as in tie [ˈtiea] 'they'^{[citation needed]}
• [uoa] as in ko [ˈkuoa] 'what'^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Stress on the second element

Spanish:

• [we̞i̯] as in buey 'ox'
• [wai̯] as in Uruguay
• [jai̯] as in cambiáis ('you (all) change')
• [je̞i̯] as in cambiéis ('that you may change')

Mandarin:

• [i̯ai̯] as in 崖 yái 'cliff'
• [i̯aʊ̯] as in 票 piào 'ticket'
• [i̯oʊ̯] as in 六 liù 'six'
• [u̯ai̯] as in 快 kuài 'fast'
• [u̯ei̯] as in 回 huí 'return'

Romanian:

• [jaw] as in iau 'I take'
• [e̯aw] as in rîdeau 'they were laughing'

Vietnamese:

• [ɨə̯ɪ̯] as in tươi 'fresh'
• [ɨə̯ʊ̯] as in rượu 'alcohol'
• [iə̯ʊ̯] as in tiêu 'pepper'
• [uə̯ɪ̯] as in nuôi 'to nourish'
• [ui̯ʊ̯] as in khuỵu 'to fall on one's knees'^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Stress on the third element

Romanian (semivocalic phonemes marked with reversed circumflex accents):

• [e̯o̯a] as in pleoape 'eyelids'
• [i̯o̯a] as in creioane 'pencils'

[edit] See also

• List of phonetics topics
• Diphthong