diphthong

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈdɪfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/, /ˈdɪpˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/ (UK); /ˈdɪfˌθɔŋ/, /ˈdɪpˌθɔŋ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English diptonge,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Middle French diptongue,^[2][3][5] from Late Latin dipthongus,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos, “having two sounds”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek δι- (di-, “double”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound, voice”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

A union of two vowels pronounced in one syllable (about 1475 in Barnhart; 1483 in the OED).^[3][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The word was soon applied loosely to a combination of two vowel letters, more correctly a digraph (1530),^[7][5][6] and to the ligatures æ and œ (1587).^[7][5] The Century Dictionary, quoted by Etymonline, distinguished a proper diphthong, in which both vowels are sounded, from an “improper” one, which is merely two vowel letters.^[4]

Timeline

• about 1475 – dypon.^[3]
• 1483 – diptonge, two vowels in one syllable.^[3][7]
• 1530 – a pair of vowel letters.^[7]
• 1587 – the ligatures æ and œ.^[7]
• 1846 – verb, to make into a diphthong.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A gliding vowel sound that begins with one vowel and moves toward another within the same syllable, as in boil or fine.
2. (not technical) A digraph such as ea in meat, or a ligature such as æ.

Word family

• diphthongal
• diphthongize
• rising diphthong
• falling diphthong

Related words

• monophthong
• triphthong
• digraph

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press