DIPHTHONGS

DIPHTHONGSAlsocalledglidingvowelsAsignificantglidefromonearticulatorypositiontoanotherTheyhavetwotargetconfigurationsrepresentedbytwovowelsymbolsjoinedtogetherwewillhavetospecifybothtargetsintermsofthepartofthetonguewhichisraisedandintermsofthedegreeoftongueraising.thetwotargets(twoelementsofthediphthong)arerarelyfullyrealisedboth–mostoften,thesecondtargetisjustaimedatdiphthongsareconventionallyrepresentedinthevoweldiagrambyspecifyingtherelativepositionofthefirsttargetelementanddrawinganarrowwhichjustpointsinthedirectionofthesecondtargetelementSometimesthefirstandthesecondelementofadiphthongwilldifferwithrespecttotheircharacteristiclipposition.Length,however,isnotadistinctivefeaturewhendiphthongsareconcerned,becausealltheeightofthembelongtothesetoflongvowels.adiphthongisasinglevowelsegment,recognizedassuchbythenativespeakers,anddistinguishedfromasequenceoftwomonophthongs.Therearetwosub-setsofdiphthongsinEnglish,distinguishedbythenatureoftheirsecondtarget,thatis,bythedirectioninwhichtheglideismade.closingdiphthongs(5)-theglideismadefromamoreopentoamoreclosepositioncentringdiphthongs(3)-theglideismadefromamoreperipheraltoamorecentralpositionClosingdiphthongs/aɪ/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingtheratherfrontpartofthetonguetoaveryopenposition,keepingthelipsinaneutralposition.Aglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byraisingthefronttocentralpartofthetonguetowardstheclose-midposition.Thefirstelementofthediphthong/aɪ/isnotsimilartoanyoftheEnglishmonophthongphonemes./aɪ/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueFrontDegreeofraisingOpenLippositionNeutralGLIDETO:PartofthetongueFronttocentralDegreeofraisingAboveclose-midLippositionVeryslightlyspreadorneutralSPELLINGPATTERNS:ikindyspyyedyeiedieeieithereyeeyeeighheightighhighPhoneme/eɪ/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingthefrontpartofthetonguetoapositionbetweenopen-midandclose-midwiththelipsinaslightlyspreadpositionAglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byraisingthefronttocentralpartofthetonguetowardstheclose-midposition./eɪ/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueFrontDegreeofraisingOpen-midtoclose-midLippositionSlightlyspreadGLIDETO:PartofthetongueFronttocentralDegreeofraisingAboveclose-midLippositionSlightlyspreadSPELLINGPATTERNS:atakeayclayaimaineabreakeireigneytheyPhoneme/ɔɪ/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingthebackpartofthetonguetoapositionaroundtheopen-midlevel(somewherebetween/ɔ:/and/ɒ/)Aglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byraisingthefronttocentralpartofthetonguetowardstheclose-midposition./ɔɪ/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueBackDegreeofraisingOpen-mid(toclose-mid)LippositionSlightlyroundedGLIDETO:PartofthetongueFronttocentralDegreeofraisingClose-midLippositionNeutralSPELLINGPATTERNSoytoyoivoicePhoneme/ɑʊ/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingtheback(tocentral)partofthetonguetoaveryopenposition(similartothatof/ɑː/)Aglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byraisingthebacktocentralpartofthetonguetowardstheclose-midposition.Thepositionofthelipsischangedfromneutraltoslightlyrounded./ɑʊ/insteadof/aʊ//ɑʊ/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueBack(tocentral)DegreeofraisingOpenLippositionNeutralGLIDETO:PartofthetongueBackDegreeofraisingAboveclose-midLippositionVeryslightlyroundedSPELLINGPATTERNSownow,brownouround,boundPhoneme/əʊ/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingthecentralpartofthetonguetopositionbetweenopen-midandclose-mid.(thisistheareofthelongschwa/ɜː/,butthesymboloftheshortschwaisused)Aglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byraisingthebacktocentralpartofthetonguetowardstheclose-midposition.Thepositionofthelipsischangedfromneutraltoslightlyrounded./əʊ/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueCentralDegreeofraisingOpen-midtoclose-midLippositionNeutralGLIDETO:PartofthetongueBacktocentralDegreeofraisingAboveclose-midLippositionSlightlyroundedSPELLINGPATTERNS:ono,go,aloneoaload,goatowknow,bowlousouloetoeCentringdiphthongsPhoneme/ɪə/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetposition;thefront-to-centralpartofthetongueisraisedtotheclose-midposition,andthelipsareonlyslightlyspread,almostneutral.Aglideismadetowardsthesecondtarget,byloweringthecentralpartofthetonguetopositionbetweenopen-midandclose-mid(roughly,theareaofschwa),withthelipsneutrallyopen.Centeringdiphthongs/ɪə/DISTINCTIVEFEATURESTypeofarticulationVowelMannerofarticulationDiphthongFIRSTTARGET:PartofthetongueFronttocentralDegreeofraisingAboveclose-midLippositionVeryslightlyspreadGLIDETO:PartofthetongueCentralDegreeofraisingOpen-midtoclose-midLippositionNeutralSPELLINGPATTERNS:ee,ea,ei,ie+rbeer,snear,weird,pierereherePhoneme/ʊə/Thearticulatorsassumethefirsttargetpositionbyraisingthebacktocentralpartofthetonguetotheclose-midposition,withthelipsonlyslightlyrounded,almo