A diphthong (pron.

: /df/ or /dp/;[1] Greek: , diphthongos, literally "two

sounds" or "two tones"), also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds
occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different
targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In most dialects of
English, the words eye, hay, boy, low, and cow contain diphthongs.
Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs, where the tongue doesn't move and only one vowel
sound is heard in a syllable. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables
for example, in the English word re-electthe result is described as hiatus, not as a
diphthong.
Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a
conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above,
which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds (phonemes).[2]
Standard English diphthongs

low
loud
lout
lied
light
lane
loin
loon
lean
leer
lair
lure

RP (British)

Australian

[]

[]

[a]

[]

[a ]

[e]

[e ]
[ ]
[u]
[i]
[]
[][t2 4]
[][t2 4]

[ ]
[o ]
[]
[i ][t2 2]
[]
[e][t2 4]
[]

GA
[a]

American
Canadian
[o]
[a]
[][t2 1]
[a ]
[ ][t2 1]
[e ]
[ ]
[u][t2 2]
[i ][t2 2]
[][t2 3]
[][t2 3]
[][