English Pronunciation and Phonetics

LESSON SEVEN
TRIPHTHONGS

I. DESCRIPTION

A triphthong is a glide from one vowel to another and then to a third, all produced rapidly and
without interruption. The triphthong can be looked upon as being composed of the fronting and
retracting diphthongs with added / « / on the end. Thus we get:

- With fronting diphthongs

/ eI /+ /« / = /eI«/ / aI / + / «/ = / aI« / /I / + / «/ = /I«/

- With retracting diphthongs

/«U / + / «/ = / «U«/ / aU / + / «/ = /aU«/

II. DRILL

1. / aI« / fire, hire, tyre, buyer, wire, flyer, empire, iron, tired, trial, quiet, lion

2. / aI« - Aù / fire – far, tyre – tar, buyer – bar, hired – hard

3. / aU« / flowers, power, tower, shower, sour, flour, coward, towel, vowel,
showery, allowance

4. / aU« - Aù / tower – tar, towering – tarring, cower – car, coward – card

5. /aU« - aI«/ tower – tyre, dowry – diary, flour – flyer, trowel – trial

6. /eI«/ greyer, player, layer, payer

7. / «U«/ slower, lower, grower, sower, mower, followers

8. /I«/ employer, destroyer, royal, loyal, employers, annoyance

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