Frank et al.,
Yikes, this is what I get for teasing and making silly jokes! I'll buy the
first round the next time the linguistic wing of the <content>OM list
</content> gets together.
English usage in this case seems to span both technical and extended
meanings. As a technical term it applies to vowel combinations, but then by
extension (in English usage at least) to consonantal unions. I checked the
OED to make sure, and you're right that it applies mainly to vowel
combinations, but in English not exclusively.
Joel W.
From: Frank van Lindert <lindertv@xxxxxxx>
Joel,
You are right about the spelling but... I was taught that diphthongs
were a kind of vowels (as opposed to monophthongs), rather than
consonants... Did I learn wrong?
See also
http://www.britannica.com/search?query=diphthong
Frank van Lindert
Utrecht Holland
>Hey, doods, if you characters are gonna be so prissy about your
>diphthongs, you ought at least to spell the word correctly. It's got
>two diphthongs of its own ("ph" and "th" corresponding to Greek phi
>and theta). ;-)
>
>"Dipthong" is what a California girl does in the Pacific Ocean when
>she wants to wash the sand off her buns (or whatever).
>
>Joel W.
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