Diphthongate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convert a single vowel sound into a glide between two adjacent vowel qualities within the same syllable; to modify pronunciation by blending vowel sounds; to change a simple vowel into a complex one involving two elements
2. To alter a vowel from a pure tone into a combination of two vowel sounds in sequence within one syllable; to adjust the sound by producing a shifting vowel quality; to transform monophthongs into diphthongs through speech
3. To produce a speech sound that starts as one vowel and moves to another within the same syllable; to transform simple vowel articulation by introducing a gliding sound; to convert monophthong vowels into more complex forms involving dual vowel elements

Etymology: The Greek noun "diphthongos" meant "having two sounds," combining "di-" (two) with "phthongos" (sound or voice). A diphthong is a single syllable in which one vowel glides into another, as in the vowels of "coin" or "cow." The noun reached English through Latin "diphthongus," and it has long been used for those gliding vowels. The verb "diphthongate" is simply the noun with the suffix "-ate," which English uses to form verbs from nouns, as in "active" or "nominate." Its meaning matches the noun: to turn a single, steady vowel into a gliding one. It is a technical word of phonetics, and it likely belongs to the specialist vocabulary built alongside its opposite, "monophthongize." Its exact date of formation is uncertain.

Synonyms: glide, vowel shift