diphthong

noun

diph·​thong ˈdif-ˌthȯŋ How to pronounce diphthong (audio)
ˈdip-
1
linguistics : a gliding (see glide entry 1 sense 4) monosyllabic speech sound (such as the vowel combination at the end of toy) that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or toward the position of another
2
linguistics : digraph
3
: the ligature (see ligature sense 4) æ or œ
diphthongal adjective

Examples of diphthong in a Sentence

The sounds of “ou” in “out” and of “oy” in “boy” are diphthongs.
Recent Examples on the Web Monday night they were said through tears, out loud, in a cacophony of accents — the lyric diphthongs and soft Ss of Yiddish crashing against the tight vowels and sharp Ts of modern Hebrew — a reminder of the multitude of Jewish ethnicities that call LA. Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023 Monday night they were said through tears, out loud, in a cacophony of accents — the lyric diphthongs and soft Ss of Yiddish crashing against the tight vowels and sharp Ts of modern Hebrew — a reminder of the multitude of Jewish ethnicities that call LA. home. Sonja Sharp, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2023 Nkechi asked him in those early months, in her broad, Americanized diphthongs. Krithika Varagur, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023 Our heroes come from House Atreides, their elegance enhanced by that smooth classical diphthong. Nate Jones, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2021 The reader can almost hear Camilleri’s longtime translator, Stephen Sartarelli, chuckling over his rendition of Catarella’s chatter as that mishmash of h-dropping Cockney and diphthong-slaying Brooklynese. Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2021 Even the big diphthongs that my grandfather’s years in the States had tamped down swelled back to their former glory in this company. Kevin Dettmar, The New Yorker, 20 July 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'diphthong.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English diptonge, from Middle French diptongue, from Late Latin dipthongus, from Greek diphthongos, from di- + phthongos voice, sound

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of diphthong was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near diphthong

Cite this Entry

“Diphthong.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/diphthong. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

diphthong

noun
diph·​thong ˈdif-ˌthȯŋ How to pronounce diphthong (audio)
ˈdip-
: a two-element speech sound that begins with the tongue position for one vowel and ends with the tongue position for another all within one syllable
the sounds of "ou" in "out" and of "oy" in "boy" are diphthongs

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