Diphthongs and their classification

Central vowels

E: is long and tense. It is central, half-way between open and close: the centre of the tongue is raised between close-mid and open-mid, no firm contact being made between the tongue and the upper molars. The lip position is neutral (the lip-rounding should be avoided). It coincides in quality with /q/, the difference between them being only in length. Care must be taken not to pronounce /r/ after it and to avoid any /r/-colouring of the sound.

q is short and lax. This is the most frequently occurring vowel in English, which always stands in unstressed syllables. Sometimes it is called schwa. It is half-way between open and close, it is central. The lips are neutral.

A diphthong /'dIfTPN/ is a movement or glide from one vowel to another. A vowel which remains constant and does not glide is called a pure vowel. Diphthongs are equivalent to the long simple vowels in their length. The first part of the diphthong is much longer and stronger than the second part. As the glide towards the second vowel happens, the loudness of the sound becomes less. As a result, the second element is shorter and quieter.

Diphthongs can be divided into two groups (see Figure 4):

Figure 4. Classification of diphthongs.

DIPHTHONGS

centring closing

ending in q ending in I ending in V

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