Triphthong

In phonetics, a triphthong is a monosyllabic vowel combination usually involving a quick, but smooth movement from one vowel to another that passes over a third one. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target tongue position, triphthongs have a moving tongue.

Monosyllabic triphthongs stressed on the first element in Bernese German (a Swiss German dialect):

^* as in Gieu 'boy'
^* as in Gfüeu 'feeling'
^* as in Schueu 'school'
^* as in Müej 'trouble'

Monosyllabic triphthongs stressed on the second element in Spanish:

^* as in buey 'ox'
^* as in Uruguay

Monosyllabic triphthongs stressed on the third element in Romanian (semivocalic phonemes marked with reversed circumflex accents):

^* as in pleoape 'eyelids'
^* as in creioane 'pencils'

The following British Received Pronunciation vowel sequences are sometimes analyzed as triphthongs stressed on the first element (they are also analyzed as disyllabic sequences of a diphthong and a monophthong):

^* as in hour
^* as in fire

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See also