Diphthong

and Hiatus
in Spanish
Sections

01 What is a syllable? 06 Hiatus rule

Two vowels together Characteristics of the letter

02 07 “h”
What is a diphthong and Diacritical accent in
03 what is a hiatus?
08 hiatuses
Open and closed vowels Classification and
04 09 accentuation

05 Diphthong rule
 Exactly!
The vowels. An a, e, i, o or u
are always present in
syllables
What is a syllable?
A syllable is a set of phonemes (letters) that are
pronounced in a single voice stroke. It can be
made up of a single phoneme or several. But
do you remember which phoneme is always
present in a syllable?
 Two vowels together
Generally we find the following types of syllables, which we know how to
identify syllables almost intuitively:

Syllables

Direct Inverse Locked Mixed

The consonant The vowel precedes Two consonants in The consonant

precedes the vowel the consonant a row precede the comes before and
vowel after the vowel

But when there are two vowels together, are they one or two syllables?
 What is a diphthong and what is a hiatus?

When we find two vowels in a row we are faced To know if the two vowels are part of the same
with either a diphthong or a hiatus: syllable (diphthong) or if each vowel is from a
different syllable (hiatus), we need to
● A diphthong is the pronunciation of two
memorize a rule and, to do so, learn about the
consecutive vowels in the same syllable
different types of vowels
● A hiatus is the pronunciation of two
consecutive vowels in two different
syllables
 Open and closed vowels

We have already seen that vowels are the only

The closed vowels are
essential phonological unit in a syllable. If there is
i, u
a vowel, there is a syllable!

But what types of vowels are there?

Vowels can be open or closed, depending on
how they are pronounced The open vowels are
a, e, o
 Diphthong rule
A diphthong is the union of two vowels in the same syllable

Open vowel + closed vowel Closed vowel + open vowel Closed vowel + closed vowel

The stress is always on the open The stress is always on the open (I, U) + (I, U)
vowel vowel triun-fo rui-do
(A, E, O) + (I, U) (I, U) + (A, E, O) viu-do ciu-dad
ai-re rei-no hie-lo puer-ta
boi-na deu-da pa-tio a-gua
 Hiatus rule
A hiatus is the separation into two syllables of two vowels that are written in succession

Open vowel + closed vowel Closed vowel + open vowel

The stress is always on the closed vowel The stress is always on the closed vowel
(A, E, O) + (I, U) (I, U) + (A, E, O)
ra-íz pa-ís san-dí-a grú-a
he-ro-í-na o-í-do flú-or bú-ho

open vowel + open vowel Two equal vowels

(A, E, O) + (A, E, O) al-ba-ha-ca po-se-er

ca-ca-o co-rre-o le-er zo-o-ló-gi-co
to-a-lla po-e-ta
 Diphthong Hiatus

Ahijado is a diphthong. The stressed syllable is - Bú-ho is a hiatus. The stressed vowel is the
Characteristics of the letter “h”
ja, therefore the syllable “ahi” is a union of an closed one, the u
open vowel and a closed vowel. The word has
three syllables: ahi-ja-do
In no case does the h affect the diphthong and hiatus rule. Look at these examples:

More examples of diphthongs with h are: Examples of hiatuses with h: cohete, zanahoria,
ahijado, ahuyentar, hueso, hielo… alcohol, ahorrar…
 Diacritical accent in hiatuses
Words with diphthongs follow the general stress rules. But hiatuses, in which the closed vowel is the
tonic, always have an accent. Look at these examples:

acentúa a-cen-tú-a

búho bú-ho

transeúnte tran-se-ún-te

cafeína ca-fe-í-na

increíble in-cre-í-ble

día dí-a
Classification and accentuation
activity for diphthongs and
hiatuses
Classify the following words according to whether they are
diphthongs or hiatuses. Put an accent on the correct letter. See the
activity on the next slide
 Activity. Classification and accentuation
Buho, etereo, caiais, teatro, aereo, pasion, viaje, transeunte, nieve, ganzua, pais, comprension, cuidado,
tiempo, cacatua, cuadro, neurona, naufrago, ferreteria, audiencia

Diphthong Hiatus
Remember!
Words with diphthongs are
stressed according to the
general rule
The hiatuses always have
an accent on the stressed
closed vowel!