The english diphthongs

MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND INNOVATIONS OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

ANDIJAN STATE INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

THE ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS

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ANDIJAN 2023

THE ENGLISH DIPHTHONGS

A diphthong is defined as an independent vowel glide not containing with in itself either a peak’ of prominence. By a vowel-glide we mean that the speech-organs start in the position of one vowel and move in the direction of another vowel. By independent we mean that the glide Is expressly made, and is not merely an unavoidable concomitant of sounds preceding and following.

During a diphthong the prominence may fall continuously or it may rise continuously, but definition it may not contain a fall of prominence followed by a rise nor a rise of prominence by a fall.
A diphthong must necessarily consist of one syllable. In order that a vowel-glide should constitute two syllables, it would be necessary that it should contain a through of prominence, i.e. a fall of prominence followed by a rise.
A diphthong is a glide from one vowel to another, and the whole glide acts like one of the long, simple vowels. in fact, it is this feature of glide which distinguishes a diphthong from a pure vowel, for a vowel which remains constant and does not glide is a pure vowel. One of the most common pronunciation mistakes that result in a learner of English having a foreign accent is the production of pure vowels where a diphthong should be pronounced.
In terms of length, diphthongs are like the long vowels described in the previous section. perhaps the most important thing to remember about all the diphthongs is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part; for example, most of the diphthong /ei/as in say;, consists of the /e/vowel, and only in about the last quarter of the diphthong does the glide to /i/begin. As the glide to /i/ happens the loudness of the sound decreases. As a result, the /i/part is shorter and quieter and this less prominent part of a diphthong is commonly said to be ‘consonantal’. Thus in practical teaching it is convenient to regard the diphthong /ei/as a succession of two vowels, /e/ and /i/, of which the I is consonantal. Foreign learners must, therefore always remember that the last part of English diphthongs must not be made too strongly.

Diphthongs may be long or short according as the glide is performed slowly or quickly. They may also be wide’ or narrow’ according as there is a large or a small movement from the initial position. one end of a diphthong is generally more prominent than the other. the greater

Prominence may be due either to greater inherent sonority or to stronger stress or to a combination of the end, the diphthong is said to be falling. when the beginning is less prominent than the end, the diphthong is said to be rising.
When the vowels beginning and ending a diphthong are of approximately equal inherent sonority,one end of the diphthongs is generally rendered less prominent than the other by reducing the force of exhalation. For example,the English sound/i/is normally less sonorous than schwa;never the less in the English/ie/,the first part of the diphthong is pronounced with so much more stress than the latter part that its prominence is greater,and the diphthong is a falling one.
A common form of received southern English contains a large number of diphthong phonemes,but eight of them are important from foreign learners’point of viw. These diphthongs are in three groups:those which end in /e/, /ie/, ea,ne/.
The diphthongs ending in /e/are called ‘centring diphthongs
and the tdiphthongs which end in /u/ and /i/are called closing diphthongs. Thus the diphthongs /ie/,/ea/, and /ue/ are centring diphthongs and /eu/, au/,ei/,ai/and /oi/are closing diphthongs.

The limit of movement of the centring diphthongs/ie,ee,ne )is schwa. This limit is usually reached when the diphthongs are final,as for instance when the words near nia,fair,door,tour are said by themselves. In non-final position schwa/e/is generally not quite reached. some speakers continue the diphthongs (ie) and (ea)as far as cut sound,especially in final position. They substitute the final schwa-sound in yhese diphthongs with the cut-sound.

The closing diphthongs have characteristic that they all end with a glide towards a closer vowel Because the second part of the diphthong is weak,they often do not reach a position that could be called close. The important things is that a glide from a relatively more open towards a relatively more close vowel is produced. Three of the diphthongs glide towards /i/
while two glide towards /u/.
THE ENGLISH DIPHTHONG NO.1:/ei/
1. The diphthong 1 starts at about the English /e/(vowel no.3)and moves in the direction of vowel 2.
2Forms of spelling;
(a),as in came, make;
(a, I,),as in plain,daisy;
(a, y,), as in day , play;
(e, I,),as in weigh, veil;
(e, a ), as in great, break;and
(a, u,),as in gauge.
3. Words for practice.
Pay, bathe, table, day, scale, game, change, james, maid, made, neighbour, late, railway, face, veil, vale, they, same, haste, yale, wake, player they are (=they are).
4 the sequence (eie) is often replaced by a diphthong (ee), thus player there.
This diphthong has to be distinguished from (ee).
(4)The diphthong /ei/ is often substituted with /ae/by pathans. Thus instead of /sei/ , they would utter /sae/ when pronouncing yhe word ,say,.