MONOPHTHONG

MONOPHTHONG. In PHONETICS, a VOWEL whose quality is relatively constant, in contrast to a DIPHTHONG or triphthong. Some varieties of English have more monophthongs, some have fewer: in RP there are 12 (as in see, sit, set, hat, arm, got, saw, pull, pool, cup, fur, and the first syllable of ago); in ScoE there are 11, rather differently distributed (as in say, see, sit, set, hat/arm, got/saw, so, pull/pool, cup/fur, and the first syllables of never, ago).

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TOM McARTHUR. "MONOPHTHONG." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "MONOPHTHONG." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-MONOPHTHONG.html

TOM McARTHUR. "MONOPHTHONG." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-MONOPHTHONG.html

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