National University of Singapore
Centre for English Language Communication
ES5001 (B) SPEAKING & LISTENING
PRONUNCIATION UNIT FIVE
Diphthongs
Dipthongs are often thought to be a combination of two vowel sounds, pronounced to
form one syllable. In reality, a dipthong is a gliding sound.
Unlike in the production of simple vowels like /e/ and /u:/, where the jaw, tongue and lips
do not move, during the articulation of a diphthong, the jaw, tongue and lips make a
gliding movement from the first element of a diphthong to the second. Observe this
difference when saying “egg” and “air”. The tongue starts in one vowel position and
glides towards another by the most direct route.
The first element of a diphthong is louder than the second element.
Classification of Frequently Used Diphthongs
eɪ
pain
midfront
gliding
up
toward
/i:/
əʊ
Jaw
position
begins
lower
than /æ/
but rises
during
glide
Lip
position
spread
more
during
glide to
/i:/
Example
Tongue
position
aɪ
pine
moves
low
central
to high
front
aʊ
pound
moves low
central to
high back
begins
higher
than /ɔ:/,
rises
more
during
glide
rises
with
tongue,
closes
rises with
tongue,
closes
rises with
tongue,
closes
very
rounded,
closing
like a
camera
shutter
moves
from
open to
slightly
parted
and
spread
moves from
open to
slightly
parted and
round
moves
from oval
to slightly
parted
and
spread
pole
mid-back
gliding up
toward
/u:/
ɔɪ
boy
moves
low back
to high
front
More
mate
examples main
mail
weigh
bathe
boat
tone
foe
goal
hold
might
mine
mile
sigh
tire
bout
town
towel
gown
hound
point
loiter
coy
boil
noise
Three other diphthongs are /ɪə/, /ʊə/ and /eə/.
1. THE DIPTHONG /eɪ/
/eɪ/ is often mispronounced as /e/.
By failing to raise the tongue towards /ɪ/ eight becomes /et/, make /mek/ and take /tek/.
Or when there is too much raising of the tongue /eɪ / becomes /ei:/, resulting in /ei:t/,
/mei:k/ and /tei:k/.
Exercise 1:
cake
Say the following, avoiding the mistakes mentioned above.
fail
rain
date
nail
sane
late
cane
sale
2. THE DIPTHONG /əʊ/
To make this sound, first pronounce /ə/, then move up and back towards /ʊ/.
The diphthong /əʊ/ is difficult when followed by /l/ or /n/. Try saying / əʊ/ + /l/ with a break
between or /ə / + /ʊl/, then run them together.
old
hole
fold
əʊ - ld
hə - əʊl
fə - ʊld
Try doing this with the following words:
bone
cone
loan
tone
coal
Exercise 2:
Practise differentiating these sounds.
/ɜ:/
kirk
curl
/əʊ/
coke
coal
2
earn
firm
gird
jerk
work
own
foam
goat
joke
woke
3. THE DIPHTHONG /ɑʊ/
To produce /ɑʊ/, start from the fully open position for /ɑ:/ and move towards /ʊ/.
Exercise 3:
Practise differentiating these sounds.
/aʊ/
bound
count
shout
town
/a:/
barn
can’t
shan’t
tart
/əʊ/
bone
cone
shown
tone
4. THE DIPHTHONG /aɪ/
To produce /aɪ/, start from the fully open position for /a:/ and move towards /ɪ/ .
Exercise 4:
Say the following words, taking care to raise the tongue towards /ɪ/.
height
choir
liar
society
tired
riot
5. THE DIPHTHONG /ɪə/
During the production of /ɪə/ the distance between the jaws widens.
/ɪə/ is often mispronounced as /i:ə/
Word
beard
Correct
bɪəd
Incorrect
ɪəd
near
nɪə
ni:ɪə
here
hɪə
hi:ɪə
3
Exercise 5:
Say the following clearly.
/i:/
bead
feet
glee
peace
/ɪ/
bid
fit
gimmick
pit
/ɜ:/
bird
fur
gird
perch
/ɪə/
beard
fear
gear
pier
6. THE DIPHTHONG /ɔɪ/
To produce /ɔɪ/ the back of the tongue is raised to half open position before it moves
towards /ɪ/.
Exercise 6.
Say these words to a partner, taking care to sound the vowel or diphthong in each word.
Can your partner hear which word of each minimal pair is read?
toil
loyal
ointment
annoy
oil
tore
lawyer
omen
anonymous
all
7. THE DIPHTHONG /eə/
The first part of this diphthong is more open than the short vowel /e/ in pen, then glides
to /ə/.
The lips remain neutrally open.
Suggestion: Most native speakers use /æ/ as the starting point of this diphthong.
Exercise 7:
Read the following clearly.
there
bear
their
careful
hair
wear
glare
scarce
4
spare
care
8. THE DIPTHONG /ʊə/
To produce /ʊə/, the front of the back of the tongue is raised and then it moves towards
/ə/.
/ʊə/ is often mispronounced as /u:ə/.
Suggestion: Practise the /ʊ/ sound first and then practise the glide from /ʊ/ to /ə/.
Exercise 8:
Contrasting /u:/ and /ʊə/.
/u:/
blue
queue
shoe
true
/ʊə/
bluer
cure
sure
truer
Exercise 9: Extended Practice
Identify the diphthongs in the following sentences and read the sentences.
1. He sold a whole gross of combs in Rome.
2. Penny wise, pound foolish.
3. Count the vowel sounds in this noun.
4. Beer, beer, Qingtao beer, makes me tear and cheer.
5. The poor steward endured the cruel treatment of his furious pilot.
6. Jane is late again, so she’ll be paid eighty cents less.
7. The annoyed oyster disturbed by the noise from the engines closed its flowery shell.
References:
Huang, R. (1983). English Pronunciation. HK: Hongkong University Press.
Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D.M., and Goodwin, J.M. (1996). Teaching Pronunciation. US: Cambridge
University Press.
5