monophthong

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos), from μόνος (mónos, “single”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑnəfθɔŋ/, /ˈmɑnəpθɔŋ/

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

• Armenian: մենաբարբառ (menabarbaṙ)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 單元音 (zh), 单元音 (zh) (dānyuányīn)

• Faroese: einljóð n
• Finnish: yksinäisvokaali, monoftongi (fi)
• French: monophtongue (fr) f

• German: Monophthong (de) m
• Irish: aonfhoghar m
• Italian: monottongo m
• Japanese: 単母音 (たんぼいん, tanboin)
• Korean: 단모음 (ko) (danmo-eum)
• Norwegian: monoftong m
• Russian: монофто́нг (ru) m (monoftóng)