Lesson 3: English Sounds‎ > ‎3A: Vowels‎ > ‎

3A-3: Diphthongs

Diphthong Chords

Here are the English diphthongs:

  • AU: This is used for the 'aw' sound in words like 'bought', 'tawny', and 'faun'
  • OU: This is used for the 'ow' sound in words like 'down' and 'mound'
  • OEU: This is used for the 'oi' sound in words like 'toil' and 'ploy'
 
Open Fig. 1: The Diphthongs

Exercise: Diphthong Chords

  • 'all' 'awful' 'raw' 'call' 'caught' 'crawl' 'sprawl' 'scald' 'straw' 'halt' 'hall' 'wall'
  • 'out' 'how' 'howl' 'house' 'pout' 'power' 'prowl' 'tower' 'spouse' 'sprout' 'scour'
  • 'soy' 'oil' 'coil' 'toil' 'soil'

Solutions

Solution: Diphthong Chords

'aw':
  • 'all': AUL
  • 'awful: AUFL
  • 'raw': RAU
  • 'call': KAUL
  • 'caught': KAUT
  • 'crawl': KRAUL
  • 'sprawl': SPRAUL
  • 'scald': SKAULD
  • 'straw': STRAU
  • 'halt': HAULT
  • 'hall': HAUL
  • 'wall': WAUL
'ow':
  • 'out': OUT
  • 'how': HOU
  • 'howl': HOUL
  • 'house': HOUS
  • 'pout': POUT
  • 'power': POUR
  • 'prowl': PROUL
  • 'tower': TOUR
  • 'spouse': SPOUS
  • 'sprout': SPROUT
  • 'scour': SKOUR
'oi':
  • 'soy': SOEU
  • 'oil': OEUL
  • 'coil': KOEUL
  • 'toil': TOEUL
  • 'soil': SOEUL