Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

- Detailed Description of Closing Diphthong sounds

gliding to //: /, a/

-Occurrence
-Accented and unaccented positions

- Spelling and listening practice

- Triphthongs
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Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

Closing Diphthongs gliding to //: /, a/

goat

cow
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Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

// (old, know)
Description: The glide for // begins at a central position midway between half-close and
//

half-open, i.e., the RP //, and moves in the

direction of the RP //, (see the diagram). The jaw movement is very slight; the lips, which are

neutral at the beginning of the glide, become

rounded towards the end.

Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

//
Occurrence: the diphthong sound // occurs in both accented and
unaccented syllables. Accented: open impose denote owner - photograph Unaccented: tomato - sparrow bellow - sorrow

Initial
oats over oval overt owner Owed

Medial
boats shoulder coat comb suppose mould

Final
borrow dough though go so foe
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Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

/a/ (out, cow)

Description: The glide for /a/ begins in an open position, between back and centre, and

moves in the direction of the RP //, (see the

diagram). The jaw movement is as extensive as for the diphthong /a/, with which the vowel has
/a/

a symmetrical relationship. Lips are neutral at

the beginning of the glide, but become rounded towards the end.

Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

/a/
Occurrence: the diphthong sound /a/ occurs mostly in accented syllables. Unaccented occurrence of the sound is confined to its occurrence in a compound form structure out + dated or some + how Accented: mountainowl allowed - endow.

Unaccented: out dated -somehow out moded - anyhow(Notice: eyebrow Initial

owl oust ounce

Medial
bounce mountain thousand

Final
plough endow bow

out

allowed

row

For spelling and listening practice please refer to page 28 of the book Pronunciation in Use listen and repeat
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Phonetics 2

Dr. Hameed Al-Zubeiry

Triphthongs
Triphthongs are those sounds that consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another and then onto a third. They are very similar to diphthongs, but have an extra schwa // on the end of the diphthongs. There are said to be only five triphthongs, but there are a number of occasions when diphthongs meet other vowels over word edge boundaries. Triphthongs can be looked on as being composed of the five closing diphthongs described earlier with an added

on the end. The five clear examples of triphthongs are as follows:

/a+/ /a+/ /a/ /a/ as in as in power liar /pa/ /la/

/e+/
/+/ /+/

/e/
// //

as in
as in as in

layer
loyal mower

/le/
/ll/ /m/
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