Monophthongised

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. Changed a gliding diphthong into one steady vowel sound, as when a vowel pronunciation simplifies over time
2. Simplified a two-part vowel sound so that it became a single unchanging sound in speech
3. Pronounced a vowel that once glided between two sounds as one pure, unchanging tone

Etymology: "Monophthongised" is the past tense and past participle of "monophthongise", so the verb it belongs to is the real subject here. That verb is formed from "monophthong", a word built from Greek roots meaning "single" and "sound" (or "voice"), with the "-ise" suffix (from Greek "-izein", via French) turning it into a verb meaning to make something into a single vowel sound. A monophthong is a vowel whose sound stays steady throughout, as opposed to a diphthong, which glides from one vowel quality to another. So to monophthongise a diphthong is to reduce a gliding vowel to one steady sound. English speakers in many regions have done this to the vowel in words like "price" or "name", where a glide becomes a single pure vowel. The word is a technical term from phonetics, and its construction is transparent: the Greek parts do the work, and the suffix does the rest.

Antonyms: diphthongise