Diphthongal

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

  1. Pertaining to or characteristic of a complex vowel sound formed by the combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable ; relating to the phonetic quality involving gliding from one vowel position to another in a single syllable ; describing speech sounds that consist of a smoothly connected sequence of two distinct vowel articulations perceived as one sound
  2. Referring to the nature of a vowel that changes quality during its articulation by merging two vowel elements ; concerning the linguistic feature where two vowel sounds are combined into a single syllabic unit with transitional movement ; indicating phonetic sounds in which the tongue moves between two vowel positions as part of the same spoken segment
  3. Associated with vowels that exhibit a continuous movement from one sound to another within the same syllable ; related to language elements that involve the blending of two vowel sounds producing a glide effect ; defining speech or phonology involving two vowel components seamlessly articulated as one phoneme in connected vocalization

Etymology: Ancient Greek had a word for a combined vowel: "diphthongos," built from "di-" (two) and "phthongos" (sound, voice), and it meant something like "two sounds." The Greek grammarians used it for vowel pairs written as one syllable, such as the sounds in Greek letter combinations that we would spell "ai" or "oi." The sense of a voice that doubles back on itself is built into the parts. The Greek word passed into Latin as "diphthongus," and from there into French as "diphtongue," before English borrowed it as "diphthong." English then formed the adjective "diphthongal" by adding the suffix "-al," a Latin-derived ending (from "-ālis") that turns a noun into an adjective meaning "relating to" that noun. So "diphthongal" simply means "relating to a diphthong," describing a vowel sound that glides from one quality to another within a single syllable.

Synonyms: vowel-gliding, two-vowel, gliding vowel, vowel combination, vocalic

Antonyms: monophthongal, simple vowel