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Thursday word: monophthong
Jun. 30th, 2016 12:25 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
prettygoodword.livejournal.commonophthong (MON-uhf-thong) - n., a vowel pronounced without a change in quality.
Also, sometimes, specifically such a vowel that is written with two letters, such as in the adjectival suffix -ous, but the main point is to contrast with diphthong (or even triphthong), in which a vowel glides between two (or three) sounds, such as the i in bite (which starts as /a/ and ends as /ɪ/). First used in the 1610s, adopting Greek monóphthongos, being mono, one + phthongos, sound.
She's been here long enough to use the Oklahoma monophthong -- she says mah for my, and raht for right.
---L.
Also, sometimes, specifically such a vowel that is written with two letters, such as in the adjectival suffix -ous, but the main point is to contrast with diphthong (or even triphthong), in which a vowel glides between two (or three) sounds, such as the i in bite (which starts as /a/ and ends as /ɪ/). First used in the 1610s, adopting Greek monóphthongos, being mono, one + phthongos, sound.
She's been here long enough to use the Oklahoma monophthong -- she says mah for my, and raht for right.
---L.
