eɪ
As in day
From /e/ up to /ɪ/: day, say, make. English readers call it a long a; IPA shows the glide.
What is a diphthong? The 8 English diphthongs in IPA
Vowels that glide: the eight diphthongs.
A diphthong is one vowel sound that moves: it starts in one place and glides to another, inside a single syllable. Say day slowly and feel your tongue move: it starts at /e/ and slides up towards /ɪ/. IPA writes a diphthong as its start and end points, /deɪ/, so there is no single diphthong symbol - just two vowel symbols side by side. Another name for it is a gliding vowel.
This is where English spelling is at its least helpful. The vowel of my, time and child is one diphthong, /aɪ/, and it is also the English word I. English readers usually think of it as a long i. It is really an /a/ sliding to /ɪ/, and seeing it written that way is the moment IPA starts to earn its keep: child is /tʃaɪld/.
British English has eight. Five glide up towards /ɪ/ or /ʊ/ (closing diphthongs), and three glide to the neutral /ə/ (centring diphthongs), the ones that replace a silent r in here, there and tour.
Press the glide button on each card and watch the mouth diagram move from the first symbol to the second.
The 8 English diphthongs at a glance
Each symbol links to its card below.
The symbols
See them on the IPA chartaɪ
As in my
From an open /a/ up to /ɪ/. The vowel of my, time and child, and the whole of the word I.
ɔɪ
As in boy
From /ɔ/ to /ɪ/: boy, toy, noise.
əʊ
As in go
The British long o: from the neutral /ə/ towards /ʊ/. American dictionaries write it /oʊ/, which is closer to how Americans say it.
aʊ
As in now
From /a/ to /ʊ/: now, house, out.
ɪə
As in here
A British glide towards the neutral vowel: here, near. The r is silent, so it is not written.
eə
As in there
The vowel of there and where. Many modern speakers flatten it into a long /ɛː/, and some newer dictionaries print that instead.
ʊə
As in tour
The rarest of the eight, and fading: tour and pure. Many speakers now say /ɔː/ in these words.
Drill
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/steɪ/
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