Utenti:Michiluzzu Scalisi/English/Diphthong

Diphthongs

The diphthong (Greek διφθογγος, "díphthongos", with two sounds) in phonetics is the combination of two vocoids formed by a rapid movement from one vocoid to another, usually perceived by the listener as one vowel, that is, a single vocalic phoneme. And while simple vocoids and monothongs are described as stable phones, diphthongs require a movement of the tongue.

Monothongs are written in the IPA as a single symbol, for example, the two as in the Sicilian word pasta /'paʃta/. A diphthong can be considered a long vowel, whose articulation is not static, but dynamic. For example, English grass /ˈgɹɑːs/ has a static and prolonged sound, whereas same /ˈseɪm/ has a modulated sound. This is considered a diphthong and is trascribed with two symbols, the first of which represents the site of departure of the back of the tongue and the second the arrival. Note that not all phonetists are in agreement as to where the departure and arrival of a diphthong are.

In the Unified Sicilian Language there are two types of diphthongs:

Descending, which begins with a vowel of more importance (higher pitch), and that ends with a semivowel of lesser importance, such as /ai/ in "ai":

Descending Diphthong
Diphthong	Example	English	Italiano	IPA
ai	purtái	aisle	avrai	/ai/
ei	dei	Marseille	direi	/ɛi/
oi	voi	toy	poi	/ɔi/
au	tauru	ouch	pausa	/au/
eu	meusa		feudo	/ɛu/

Ascending, which begins with a semivowel of lesser importance and that ends with a vowel of more importance, such as /ja/ in "ghiarnu":

Ascending Diphthong
Diphthong	Example	English	Italiano	IPA
ia	chianu	yard	piano	/ja/
ie	ghieffa	yell	piede	/je/
io	ghiómmaru	yolk	piove	/jo/
iu	chiui	you	più	/ju/
ua	guáddara	Guantanamo	guado	/wa/
ue	guerra	quest	guerra	/wɛ/
ui	guísina	queen	qui	/wi/
uo	uomma	whoa	nuoto	/wɔ/
va	varca	Guantanamo	guado	/wa/
ve	venti	quest	guerra	/wɛ/
vi	vídiri	queen	qui	/wi/
vo	vogghiu	whoa	nuoto	/wɔ/