# Triphthong

In phonetics, a triphthong (UK: /ˈtrɪfθɒŋ, ˈtrɪpθɒŋ/ TRIF-thong, TRIP-thong, US: /-θɔːŋ/ -⁠thawng) (from Greek τρίφθογγος triphthongos, lit. 'with three sounds' or 'with three tones') is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a third. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target articulator position, diphthongs have two and triphthongs three.
Triphthongs are not to be confused with disyllabic sequences of a diphthong followed by a monophthong, as in German Feuer 'fire', where the final vowel is longer than those found in triphthongs.

## Examples

Triphthongs that feature close elements typically analyzed as /j/ and /w/ in phonology are not listed. For instance, the Polish word łój 'tallow' is typically analyzed as /CVC/ - a sequence of a consonant followed by a vowel and another consonant. This is because the palatal approximant is resyllabified in some inflected forms, such as łojami (instr. pl.), and also because /w/ occurs word-finally after a consonant just like /l/ does (compare przemysł 'industry' with Przemyśl 'Przemyśl'), which means that both of them behave more like consonants than vowels.
On the other hand, [ɪ̯, i̯, ʊ̯, u̯] are not treated as phonetic consonants when they arise from vocalization of /l/, /v/ or /ɡ/ as they do not share almost all of their features with those three.

### First segment is the nucleus
#### Bernese German

Bernese German has the following triphthongs:
* [iə̯u̯] as in Gieu 'boy'
* [yə̯u̯] as in Gfüeu 'feeling'
* [uə̯u̯] as in Schueu 'school'
They have arisen due to the vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda; compare the last two with Standard German Gefühl and Schule, the last one with a schwa not present in the Bernese word.

#### Danish

Danish has the following triphthongs:
* [ɛɐ̯u̯] as in færge 'ferry'
* [iɐ̯u̯] as in hvirvle 'to whirl'
* [œ̞ɐ̯u̯] as in Børge, a given name
* [uɐ̯u̯] as in spurv 'sparrow'

#### English

In British Received Pronunciation, and most other non-rhotic (r-dropping) varieties of English, monosyllabic triphthongs with R are optionally distinguished from sequences with disyllabic realizations:
* [aʊ̯ə̯] as in: flour (compare with disyllabic "flower" [aʊ̯.ə])
* [aɪ̯ə̯] as in: hire (compare with disyllabic "higher" [aɪ̯.ə])
* [ɔɪ̯ə̯] as in: coir (compare with disyllabic "coyer" [ɔɪ̯.ə]), loir (compare with disyllabic "lawyer" [ɔɪ̯.ə])
As [eɪ̯] and [əʊ̯] become [ɛə̯] and [ɔː] respectively before /r/, most instances of [eɪ̯.ə] and [əʊ̯.ə] are words with the suffix "-er", such as player and lower. Other instances are loanwords, such as boa.
[aʊ̯ə̯, aɪ̯ə̯, ɔɪ̯ə̯] are sometimes transcribed as ⟨awə, ajə, ɔjə⟩, or similarly.

### Second segment is the nucleus

Spanish:
* [u̯ei̯] as in buey 'ox'
* [u̯ai̯] as in Uruguay 'Uruguay'
* [i̯ai̯] as in cambiáis 'you [informal plural] change'
* [i̯ei̯] as in cambiéis 'that you [informal plural] may change'
The last two are mostly restricted to European Spanish. In Latin American Spanish (which has no distinct vosotros form), the corresponding words are cambian and cambien, with a rising-opening diphthong followed by a nasal stop and initial, rather than final stress. In phonology, [u̯ei̯, u̯ai̯, i̯ai̯, i̯ei̯] are analyzed as a monosyllabic sequence of three vowels: /uei, uai, iai, iei/. In Help:IPA/Spanish, those triphthongs are transcribed ⟨wej, waj, jaj, jej⟩:,,,