International Phonetic Alphabet
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English sun . Diphthongs are transcribed with two letters, as in English sign or sane . The two vowel symbols are chosen to represent the beginning and ending positions of the tongue, though this can be only approximate.
The non-syllabic diacritic (an inverted breve below, ⟨◌ ̯⟩) can be placed under the less prominent component to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a separate vowel. It is, however, usually omitted in languages such as English, where there is not likely to be any confusion.
Without the diacritic, the sequence can represent either a diphthong or two vowels in hiatus .
Read more about this topic: Diphthong
Famous quotes containing the words phonetic and/or alphabet:
“The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a deep structure that determines its semantic interpretation and a surface structure that determines its phonetic interpretation.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“I believe the alphabet is no longer considered an essential piece of equipment for traveling through life. In my day it was the keystone to knowledge. You learned the alphabet as you learned to count to ten, as you learned “Now I lay me” and the Lord’s Prayer and your father’s and mother’s name and address and telephone number, all in case you were lost.”
—Eudora Welty (b. 1909)