ess101 badge

The main diphthongs used in General American (GA) and Standard Southern British English (SSBE) are summarized in Table 2. They are categorized by closing position and diphthongs used exclusively by SSBE are shown in red.

no. closing position IPA example words
1 closing with /ɪ/ eɪ name, they, day
2 aɪ eye, time, buy
3 ɔɪ noise, boy, void
4 closing with /ʊ/ aʊ now, count, bough
5a oʊ know, toe, soap
5b əʊ know, toe, soap
6 closing with /ə/
(i.e. centering)		 ɪə fear, here, near
7 ɛə square, there, stair
8 ʊə lure, sewer, doer

Table 2. GA and SSBE diphthongs.

NEXT>> Comparing Accents