Basic Speaking & Pronunciation

Day 9 – Pro#2

Fitri Yuliani
Liones English Course
collaboration with BigBen Course
Diphthong
 The word "diphthong" comes from the Greek and means "two

voices" or "two sounds." In phonetics, a diphthong is a vowel in

which there is a noticeable sound change within the same syllable.

(A single or simple vowel is known as a monophthong.) The process

of moving from one vowel sound to another is called gliding, which is

why another name for a diphthong is a gliding vowel but they are

also known as compound vowels, complex vowels, or moving

vowels. The sound change that turns a single vowel into a diphthong

is called diphthongization. Diphthongs are sometimes referred to as

"long vowels" but this is misleading. While vowel sounds do change

in a diphthong, they do not necessarily take more time to say than a

Diphthong
Diphthong Practice
[ei] Day, Hay, Way
 Day after day he may have made more hay
but during his heyday was led astray by
greed and demands for higher pay

[oi] Boy, annoy, void

 ‘oi’ said the boy who toyed with the ploy
of choice of using his noisy voice to
destroy coy Roy
[ia] Beer, Near, Hear
 The beer sold here and near the pier
tastes weird, yet we really fear it’s hard to
steer clear

[ea] Bear, Care, Hair

 Beware of the bear whose only care is to
eat your fare and who is rarely snared or
dared especially when in pairs
[ua] Fewer, Newer
 The steward endured touring the moors,
then cruelly lured the poor tourists
seeking a cure into deep sewers

[au] Cow, Now

 Now the cow knows how to plough the
ground and has found a way around the
hound to loudly row with the sow
[ai] Sky, Tie, Sigh
 I might buy my kite tonight and find the
reason why it can flay so mightily high in
the sky

[ua] One, Wonder

 One wonders how every one of the
seven world wonders could be so
wonderful
[ou] Bone, Home, Phone
 Mo boldly told Joe not to go slow or he
won’t go home and eat rolled oats
tomorrow
Thank You
 "The way to get started is to quit talking
and begin doing." -Walt Disney

Brought to you by
chaniago.yuliani@gmail.com