Monophthong (definition)

A monophthong is a vowel with no discernible shift in the vowel space; in other words, a simple vowel. These contrast with diphthongs, which are perceived as single syllables despite their being a combination of two vowels. English monophthongs include:

1. /i/ as in bean
2. /ɪ/ as in bin
3. /e/ as in bane
4. /ɛ/ as in been
5. /æ/ as in bat
6. /ə, ʌ/ as in but
7. /ɑ/ as in bought
8. /ɔ/ as in bore
9. /ʊ/ as in book
10. /u/ as in boot

For more information on the monophthongs included in the Gaelic phoneme inventory see Sounds of Scottish Gaelic.

See Also

• Diphthong (definition)
• Vowel (definition)

External Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monophthong

References

• Crystal, D. (2008) Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Matthews, P. H. (1997) The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.