Pronunciation of English Vowel Sounds - Diphthongs

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Topic: Diphthongs
Practice 3 vowel sounds. Also, learn what triphthongs are.


NOTE: I'm very sorry to announce as of January 2012 links to EnglishCafe will no longer be active due to the site closing. I was very lucky to be a part of that online community while it lasted. I'm also sorry for the loss of additional materials for learners.

TEACHERS: A classroom activity on diphthongs is posted on my WordPress blog.



Note from Jennifer:
To learn more about diphthongs, check out the sources I listed as well as others you may know of. There are different ways of explaining these sounds, and not all will agree with my explanations. There can be arguments over which sounds we are combining. I note, for example, that some say we should end with /ɪ/ or /ʊ/ with these three diphthongs. I liked Rebecca Dauer's explanation that says we move towards /i/ or /u/. I like the concept of approaching a sound. It supports the idea of a glide. Also, many say we start with /æ/ or /ɔ/, but again, I preferred a different explanation. I think of /ɑ/ as a general starting point. The tongue for /ɑ/ may be more forward than usual, though. A very strong "Ow!" indeed starts with /æ/, but other words with /aʊ/ seem to start with the tongue less forward. /aɪ/ to my ears seems to start with /a/ not /æ/.

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