Course Title: Communicative phonetics Theme: Lesson 7

Course Title: Communicative phonetics

Theme: Lesson 7. Diphthongs. Diphthongoids

A diphthong is a vowel sound in which the tongue changes its position to produce the sound of two vowels . Diphthongs consist of two elements which are not separated into syllables. The beginning element of a diphthong is called the nucleus and the ending element of it is called the glide. English diphthongs are divided into three subgroups according to which vowel they glide to:

1. 
   Diphthongs with an /ı/-glide: /eı/, /aı/, /ɔı/;
   
2. 
   Diphthongs with an /u/-glide: /au/, /әu/;
   
3. 
   Diphthongs with an /ә/-glide: /ıә/, /eә/, /uә/.
   

Exercise 1. Read the sentences and find the diphthons

1. 
   Jane and Kate baked eight cakes.
   
2. 
   Simon and Mike arrive on time.
   
3. 
   Roy is a noisy boy.
   
4. 
   Jones shows his noble nose.
   
5. 
   Out of the house Mr Brown found a mouse on the ground.
   
6. 
   Where were Mary’s pearls?
   
7. 
   At the rear they hear the peer and the jeer.
   
8. 
   Mr Muir is curious about the tour.
   

Exercise 2. Practice the pronunciation of the diphthong /eә/. Complete this conversation using the words in the box. Then listen and check .

Theme: Lesson 7. Diphthongs. Diphthongoids 1

SlD: No, not , ! You know, little lights in the sky.
JOE: Oh, ! 1 thought you said _________ that people walk up!
Exercise 3. Practice the pronunciation of the diphthongs /ɔı/ and /au/. Listen to the text. Find the words from it which have an /ɔı/ or /au/ sound and write them in the correct part of the table.

Text	/ɔı/ (4 words)	/au/ (6 words)
I enjoy living down town. Well, its very noisy, of course. The traffic is loud, and the young people often shout when they come out of the clubs. But there are lots of good points too. There’s a big choice of shops, and it`s easy to get around.