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A monophthong (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is a pure vowel sound, or one whose articulation at beginning and end is relatively fixed, with the tongue moving neither up nor down and neither forward nor backward towards a new position of articulation. A monophthong can be contrasted with a diphthong, where the vowel quality changes (glides from one quality to another) within the same syllable, and with hiatus, where two vowels are next to each other but in different syllables. A vowel sound whose quality does not change over the duration of the vowel is called a pure vowel. The word comes Template:Etymology.<ref>Template:LSJ</ref> Template:Etymology)
Sound changesEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}Template:Expand section The conversions of monophthongs to diphthongs (diphthongization), and of diphthongs to monophthongs (monophthongization), are major elements of language change and are likely the cause of further changes.
In some languages, due to monophthongization, graphemes that originally represented diphthongs now represent monophthongs.
See alsoEdit
- Diphthong, also known as a vowel cluster
- Vowel hiatus
- Index of phonetics articles
- Table of vowels
- Semivowel
- Triphthong
- Vowel
- Vowel breaking