Dipthongs

Dipthongs

Vowels

• Vowels are determined by changes in position of the lips, tongue and palate
• These changes can be very slight and difficult to detect
• In English, vowels can also glide into one another to form diphthongs and even triphthongs

Dipthongs

• Diphthongs are those sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another 
• The first part of a diphthong is always longer and stronger than the second part

/ei/

• Spelling: the sound /ei/ is usually written with the letters:
• A: baby, face, late, page, place, same, take. The final “e” indicates that “a” is pronounced /ei/ without this final “e” the pronunciation would be    vowel: e.g. Sa, /saem/
• AY: day, say, stay, today, way
• AI: rain, Spain, train, wait
• EA: great, weight, steak
• Other: grey, they, break, eight

Paper  [ˈpeɪpə]	Radio [ˈreɪdɪəʊ]	Railway [ˈreɪlweɪ ]	Newspaper [ˈnjuːzˌpeɪpə ]
Sail [seɪl]	James[ʤeɪmz ]	Station [ˈsteɪʃən ]	Date [deɪt]

/ou/ - /əu/ - /əʊ/

• This has two sounds: /ə/ and /ʊ /
• The second elements of the diphthong is very short and the first one is longer than /e/
• The lips at the beginning are in a neutral position and then gradually rounded as the tongue rises to make /u/
• The sound / əu/ is susually written with the letters:
• O: go, hello, no, old, only, hotel
• O…e: home, hole, nose, those
• O…a: boat, coat, road, Joan
• Ow: know, low, narrow, snow, slow, throw
• Ou: though, soul, shoulder
• Some words: boat, Jone´s, hotel, hello

/ai/

•  This has two sounds /a:/ and then add /i/ this is short sound
• Most students have no difficulties with this sound. When our students must discriminate the /i/ sound should be included first in Listening and then producing
• Spelling: the sound /ai/ is usually written with the letters “I” or “y”:
• I, y: child, find, five, smile, try, by, fly, right, sky
• Igh: high. Light, night, right, bright 
• Ye: eye, goodbye
• Other: lie, buy
• Transcriptions: Pie /pai/, kite [kait], climbing /klaimiŋ/, riding /raidiŋ], rice /rais/, bright /brait/, ice-cream /ais-krim/, ice-skating /ais-skeitiŋ/, goodnight [gʊdnait], Friday [fraidei]

/au/

• The first sound is, in some way, similar to /æ/, then add //; this second sound is very short. There is an /au/ diphthong in Spanish but it is pronounced higher and it is much more tense than the English equivalent.
• Spelling: the sound /au/ is written with the letters:
• Ou: about, mouth, count, round, out
• Ow: cow, crowd, flower, down, now, town, brown 
• Transcriptions: Flowers [flauəz], mouse [maus], mice [mais], thousand [θauznd], cows [kauz], trousers [trauzez]

/oi/

• The two sounds in this diphthong are: /o:/ even pronounced longer, then /i/, being even shorter. There are few words for the practice of this sound at beginner´s level.
• Spelling: The sound /oi/ is written with the letters:
• oi: noise, point, voice
• oy: boy, toy, employ