Diphthongs with й as Base.
If, instead of the short or long a, the base of the diphthong becomes ĕ, we get the combinations ei and eu, both of rare occurrence except in German, where the sound of ei (English isle), is thinner than that of ai (English ire). In eu, the two vowels are still heard very distinctly in the Italian Europa. In German they coalesce more, and almost take the sound of oy in boy.
Diphthongs with ŏ as Base.
In the diphthong oi also, the pronunciation may vary according to the degree of speed with which the i follows the ŏ. O and u, on the contrary, coalesce easily, and form the well-known deep sound of ou in bought, or of a in fall.
Different Kinds of Diphthongs.
Although the sounds of the Italian e and o are here classed together, as diphthongs, with the English sounds of i and ou, this is not meant to deny a difference in degree between the two. The former might be called monophthongs, because the ear receives but onc impression, as when two notes are struck simultaneously. It is only by theoretical analysis that we can detect the two component parts of e and o - a fact well known to every Sanskrit scholar. The âi and âu, on the contrary, are real diphthongs; and an attentive ear will perceive ahee in the English "I," ah+oo in the English "out." "out." Sir Jolin Herschell compares these sounds to quick arpeggios, where two chords are struck almost, but not quite simultaneously.
In African dialects, as, for instance, in Zulu, some Missionaries say that two vowels combine for the formation of one sound, as in hai (no), Umcopai (a proper name); others, that there are no diphthongs, but that, whenever two vowels meet, the separate power of each is distinctly marked and preserved in pronunciation.[1] This may depend. on a peculiar disposition in the organ of hearing as well as in the organ of speech.
Objections are likely to be raised against our treating the vowel in "bought" and "fall" as a diphthong. There is, however, a
- ↑ An Essay on the Phonology and Orthography of the Zulu and kindred Dialects in Southern Africa, by L. Grout, p. 441. B
