What does diphthong mean?
Word: Diphthong
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Diphthong means two vowel sounds joined together in one syllable, as in the word coin.
How do you spell diphthong?
Syllables: diph - thong
Tricky part: The middle of the word is a crowd of consonants. Pupils lose an h and write dipthong or diphtong: it needs ph, then th, side by side.
Watch out for: dipthong, diphtong, difthong
Memory tip: Picture a thumb on a phone: ph from phone, th from thumb, pressed together.
Diphthong in a sentence
Example 1: Our English teacher wrote each diphthong on the board and had us say it twice.
Example 2: The vowel sound in house is a diphthong.
Example 3: Learners of English often need practice before each diphthong sounds natural.
Fun Fact
The name is Greek and means 'two sounds'. Standard British English is usually said to have eight of them.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
d_phth_ng
a) y, o
b) i, o
c) i, a
d) e, o
Show answer
b) i, o. The vowels are the i of dip and the o of long.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The teacher asked us to underline each diphthong in the passage and then read the whole paragraph aloud with careful pronounciation of every vowel.
a) passage
b) diphthong
c) paragraph
d) pronounciation
Show answer
d) pronounciation. The verb is pronounce, but the noun has no o in its middle.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
Say the word boy aloud and you will hear a gtdonpihh.
a) hyphen
b) alphabet
c) phonetics
d) diphthong
Show answer
d) diphthong. Only diphthong has a d, and the jumbled letters include one.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning.
1. diphthong 2. consonent 3. punctuasion 4. sylable
a) a part of a word with one vowel sound
b) a vowel sound that shifts in quality as it is spoken
c) a speech sound that is not a vowel
d) the marks that divide up written sentences
Show answer
b) a vowel sound that shifts in quality as it is spoken. Consonant has an a before the nt, syllable a double l, and punctuation a t before the ion.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which of these words is the vowel sound a diphthong?
a) cat
b) cow
c) sit
d) bed
Show answer
b) cow
2. Why does a speaker's mouth move during a diphthong?
a) the breath is pushed out through the nose
b) the tongue taps behind the top teeth
c) the sound glides from one vowel to another
d) the lips must close to stop the air
Show answer
c) the sound glides from one vowel to another
