monophthong

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monophthongos), from μόνος (monos, “single”) + φθόγγος (phthongos, “sound”).

Noun

monophthong (plural monophthongs)

1. A vowel (in the sense of a sound rather than a letter of the alphabet) that has the same sound throughout its pronunciation, such as the short vowels in "pap", "pep", "pip", "pop" and "pup", as opposed to a diphthong (eg, /aɪ/, the vowel in "pipe") or a triphthong (eg, /aɪə/, the sound in the non-rhotic pronunciation of "pyre").

Derived terms

• monophthongal
• monophthongization

Translations

vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation

• Faroese: einljóð (fo) n
• Finnish: yksinäisvokaali (fi), monoftongi (fi)

• Japanese: 単母音 (ja) (たんぼいん, tanboin)
• Norwegian: monoftong (no) m