Editing Diphthong (section)

==Transcription==
In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA), monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English ''sun'' {{IPA|[sʌn]}}, in which {{angbr IPA|ʌ}} represents a monophthong. Diphthongs are transcribed with two symbols, as in English ''high'' {{IPA|/haɪ/}} or ''cow'' {{IPA|/kaʊ/}}, in which {{angbr IPA|aɪ}} and {{angbr IPA|aʊ}} represent diphthongs.

Diphthongs may be transcribed with two vowel symbols or with a vowel symbol and a [[semivowel]] symbol. In the words above, the less prominent member of the diphthong can be represented with the symbols for the palatal approximant {{IPAblink|j}} and the labiovelar approximant {{IPAblink|w}}, with the symbols for the close vowels {{IPAblink|i}} and {{IPAblink|u}}, or the symbols for the [[near-close vowel]]s {{IPAblink|ɪ}} and {{IPAblink|ʊ}}:

{| class="wikitable"
! vowel and semivowel
| {{angbr IPA|haj kaw}}
! rowspan="2" | [[Phonetic transcription#Narrow versus broad; phonemic versus phonetic|broad transcription]]
|-
! rowspan="2" | two vowel symbols
| {{angbr IPA|hai̯ kau̯}}
|-
| {{angbr IPA|haɪ̯ kaʊ̯}}
! [[Phonetic transcription#Narrow versus broad; phonemic versus phonetic|narrow transcription]]
|}

Some transcriptions are [[Broad transcription|broader]] or [[Narrow transcription|narrower]] (less precise or more precise phonetically) than others. Transcribing the English diphthongs in ''high'' and ''cow'' as {{angbr IPA|aj aw}} or {{angbr IPA|ai̯ au̯}} is a less precise or broader transcription, since these diphthongs usually end in a vowel sound that is [[Vowel#Height|more open]] than the semivowels {{IPA|[j w]}} or the [[close vowel]]s {{IPA|[i u]}}. Transcribing the diphthongs as {{angbr IPA|aɪ̯ aʊ̯}} is a more precise or narrower transcription, since the English diphthongs usually end in the [[near-close vowel]]s {{IPA|[ɪ ʊ]}}.

The non-syllabic [[diacritic]], the [[inverted breve]] below {{angbr|◌̯}},<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/032f/index.htm|title=Unicode Character 'COMBINING INVERTED BREVE BELOW' (U+032F)|website=FileFormat.Info}}</ref> is placed under the less prominent part of a diphthong to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a vowel in a separate syllable: {{IPA|[aɪ̯ aʊ̯]}}. When there is no contrastive vowel sequence in the language, the diacritic may be omitted. Other common indications that the two sounds are not separate vowels are a superscript, {{angbr IPA|aᶦ aᶷ}},<ref>Used e.g. by {{Citation|last=Donaldson|first=Bruce C.|year=1993|title=A Grammar of Afrikaans|chapter=1. Pronunciation|publisher=[[Mouton de Gruyter]]|pages=8–9|isbn=3-11-013426-8|url={{GBurl|id=ftzioRvJzTUC}}}} The author states that the Afrikaans diphthongs {{IPA|/eə øə oə/}} can be transcribed {{IPA|/eᵊ øᵊ oᵊ/}}.</ref> or a tie bar, {{angbr IPA|a͡ɪ a͡ʊ}} or {{angbr IPA|a͜ɪ a͜ʊ}}.<ref>Used e.g. by {{Citation|last=Mangold|first=Max|author-link=Max Mangold|year=2005|title=Das Aussprachewörterbuch|publisher=Duden|edition=6th|pages=36–37|isbn=3-411-04066-1}}. The author transcribes the diphthongs {{angbr|ai au eu}} as {{IPA|[a͜i a͜u ɔ͜y]}}. However, on page 36, he admits that phonetically, {{IPA|[aɪ̯ aʊ̯ ɔʏ̯]}} are more precise symbols.</ref> The tie bar can be useful when it is not clear which symbol represents the syllable nucleus, or when they have equal weight.<ref>{{cite book|last=Battisti|first=Carlo|year=2000|orig-date=1938|title=Fonetica generale|location=Milano|publisher=Lampi di stampa (Hoepli)|page=224|isbn=88-488-0088-2}}</ref> Superscripts are especially used when an on- or off-glide is particularly fleeting.<ref>{{cite conference|first1=George D.|last1=Allen|first2=Sarah|last2=Hawkins|title=Development of Phonological Rhythm|editor-first1=Alan|editor-last1=Bell|editor-first2=Joan B.|editor-last2=Hooper|book-title=Syllables and Segments|series=North-Holland Linguistic Series|volume=40|conference=Symposium on Segment Organization and the Syllable, Boulder, Colorado, October 21–23, 1977|year=1978|publication-place=Amsterdam|publisher=North-Holland|pages=173–185|isbn=0-444-85241-7}} The authors contrast {{angbr IPA|oi}} from {{angbr IPA|o͜i}} from {{angbr IPA|oᶤ}}.</ref>

The period {{angbr IPA|.}} is the opposite of the non-syllabic diacritic: it represents a syllable break. If two vowels next to each other belong to two different [[syllable]]s ([[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]]), meaning that they do not form a diphthong, they can be transcribed with two vowel symbols with a period in between. Thus, ''lower'' can be transcribed {{angbr IPA|ˈloʊ.ɚ}}, with a period separating the first syllable, {{IPAc-en|l|oʊ}}, from the second syllable, {{angbr IPA|ɚ}}.

The non-syllabic diacritic is used only when necessary. It is typically omitted when there is no ambiguity, as in {{angbr IPA|haɪ kaʊ}}. No words in English have the vowel sequences {{IPA|*[a.ɪ a.ʊ]}}, so the non-syllabic diacritic is unnecessary.