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Concept
Triphthong
Summary
In phonetics, a triphthong (UKˈtrɪfθɒŋ,_ˈtrɪpθɒŋ , US-θɔːŋ ) (from Greek τρίφθογγος, "triphthonggos", literally "with three sounds," or "with three tones") is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target articulator position, diphthongs have two and triphthongs three.
Triphthongs are not to be confused with disyllabic sequences of a diphthong followed by a monophthong, as in German Feuer ˈfɔʏɐ 'fire', where the final vowel is longer than those found in triphthongs.
Triphthongs that feature close elements typically analyzed as /j/ and /w/ in phonology are not listed. For instance, the Polish word łój wuj 'tallow' is typically analyzed as /CVC/ - a sequence of a consonant followed by a vowel and another consonant. This is because the palatal approximant is resyllabified in some inflected forms, such as łojami wɔˈjami (instr. pl.), and also because /w/ occurs word-finally after a consonant just like /l/ does (compare przemysł ˈpʂɛmɨsw 'industry' with Przemyśl ˈpʂɛmɨɕl 'Przemyśl'), which means that both of them behave more like consonants than vowels.
On the other hand, [ɪ̯, i̯, ʊ̯, u̯] are not treated as phonetic consonants when they arise from vocalization of /l/, /v/ or /ɡ/ as they do not share almost all of their features with those three.
Bernese German has the following triphthongs:
[iə̯u̯] as in Gieu 'boy'
[yə̯u̯] as in Gfüeu 'feeling'
[uə̯u̯] as in Schueu 'school'
They have arisen due to the vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda; compare the last two with Standard German Gefühl ɡəˈfyːl and Schule ˈʃuːlə, the last one with a schwa not present in the Bernese word.
Danish has the following triphthongs:
[ɛɐ̯u̯] as in færge 'ferry'
[iɐ̯u̯] as in hvirvle 'to whirl'
[œ̞ɐ̯u̯] as in Børge, a given name
[uɐ̯u̯] as in spurv 'sparrow'
In British Received Pronunciation, and most other non-rhotic (r-dropping) varieties of English, monosyllabic triphthongs with R are optionally distinguished from sequences with disyllabic realizations:
[aʊ̯ə̯] as in: flour (compare with disyllabic "flower" [aʊ̯.
Official source
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