Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A compound vowel sound resulting from the succession of three simple ones and functioning as a unit.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A combination of three vowels in a single syllable forming a simple or compound sound; a group of three vowel characters representing combinedly a single or monosyllabic sound, as eau in beau, ieu in adieu, eye, etc.; a vowel trigraph.
Wiktionary
- n. A monosyllabic vowel combination usually involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another that passes over a third one.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Orthoëpy) A combination of three vowel sounds in a single syllable, forming a simple or compound sound; also, a union of three vowel characters, representing together a single sound; a trigraph.
Etymologies
- From Ancient Greek τρία (tria, "three") + φθόγγος (phthongos, "sound"). (Wiktionary)
- tri- + (di)phthong. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A triphthong is a sequence of three vowels making up one syllable.”
“A triphthong is the union of _three_ vowels pronounced in like manner; as, _eau_ in beau, _iew_ in view.”
“The union of three vowels in one sound is called a triphthong; as iew in view.”
“However, for purposes of graphic accenting, any sequence made up of an open vowel between two closed atonic vowels will always be considered as a triphthong, regardless of its actual articulation in one or two syllables.”
“A sequence of atonic closed vowel + open vowel + atonic closed vowel can be pronounced, in certain cases, as one syllable, a triphthong, and in others as two distinct syllables, with a hiatus followed by a diphthong, or vice versa.”
“For a triphthong to exist, two closed atonic vowels (“i” or “u”) and, between them, an open vowel (“a”, “e”, or “o”): anunciáis, guau, miau, confiéis.”
“A triphthong is PROPER if all three of the vowels are sounded.”
Orthography As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois
“A triphthong is IMPROPER or is called a TRIGRAPH if one or two of the three vowels is silent; as in ad_ieu_, b_eau_ty.”
Orthography As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois
“Only the first two of these four words contain a triphthong.”
“Within a word two or three contiguous vowels usually combine to form a diphthong or a triphthong respectively”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘triphthong’.
-
phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tabacosis, tabanid, tabaret, tabati?re, tabby, tabefaction, tabellary, tabellion, tabernacle, tabernacular, tabescent, tabific and 930 more...
-
Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
-
phth
Words with that sequence of letters
phthalo, phthalate, apophthegm, phthalocyanine, naphtha, phthor, phthisic, diphtheria, ophthalmologist, exophthalmia, diphthong, phthongometer and 52 more...
-
-phthong
voice; sound
-
sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
-
Word words
dysphemism, euphemism, diphthong, diphthongization, ablaut, apophony, ablative, acronym, triphthong, underextension, epenthesis, conjunct and 7 more...
-
Euphonic
hubbub, apse, ersatz, triphthong, glossolalia, squiggle, lackadaisical, sfumato, brouhaha, curlicue, floccinaucinihili..., flibbertigibbet
-
Logos Hellenos
triphthong, polymath, glossolalia, triskaidekaphobia, chaos, logophilia, zeugma, hapax legomenon, eleutheromania, eunoia, kaleidoscope, areté and 4 more...
-
linguistic terms of note
clitic, implicature, tautology, diphthong, triphthong, node, minimality, chomskyan, formant, optimality, ethnography
-
words to love
hefty, commiserate, analgesic, litigious, moribund, decanter, sonorous, simulacrum, espadrille, beauteous, decipher, apotheosis and 18 more...
-
vocab
propinquity, accismus, anodyne, crepuscular, vulpine, skosh, machination, monophthong, diphthong, triphthong
Tweets
Looking for tweets for triphthong.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.