Phonology The sound of language | Page 14

consist of a combination of two vowel sounds, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other apparatus) parts moves of the during speech the pronunciation of the vowel. In many dialects of English, the phrase no highway cowboys /ˌnoʊ ˈhaɪweɪ ˈkaʊbɔɪz/ has five distinct diphthongs, one in every syllable .