Is the word TIERRA a diphthong or a hiatus?

The word TIERRA contains a diphthong.

Surely you have asked yourself the same question with many other words, since sometimes the rules and regulations by which the Spanish language is governed are difficult to understand. We recommend that, if you usually have doubts about find the diphthongs and hiatuses in words, get down to work and learn to identify each of these phenomena within words.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to explain whywhy the word LAND has a diphthong and not a hiatus and we will show you some examples so that you can understand this concept much better.

Index

1. The word TIERRA is a diphthong
2. What is a diphthong?
3. Examples of diphthongs
4. What is a hiatus?
5. Examples of hiatus
6. Diphthong and hiatus exercise
7. Solutions to the diphthong and hiatus exercise

The word TIERRA is a diphthong because the hyphenation of the word is as follows: land. This means that there are two vowels that are united in the same syllable, therefore, we are facing a diphthong.

The vowel sequence "ie" forms a diphthong. It's about a growing diphthong because it is formed by a closed vowel in unstressed position ("i"), followed by an open vowel ("e").

A diphthong is the combination of two contiguous vowels. that are pronounced together in the same syllable. There are two ways to form a diphthong in a word:

• Two closed or weak vowels (they are "i" and "u"). For example: triumph.
• A closed vowel and an open vowel (they are "a", "e" and "o") or vice versa. For example: queen, share

It is important to mention that two open vowels can never form a diphthong, but instead separate into syllables to form the phenomenon called hiatus. The letter H" in the middle of the vowels does not prevent the diphthong from occurring and, in addition, it is possible to form a diphthong with the letter "y", since it has a vowel sound.

types of diphthong

exist three types of diphthongs that are classified according to the order of the vowels that form it, within the syllable:

• growing diphthong: Closed vowel + open vowel. For example: well.
• decreasing diphthong: Open vowel + closed vowel. For example: landscape or vanilla.
• Homogeneous diphthong: Closed vowel + closed vowel. For example: care or widow.

In unProfesor we discover the different types of diphthongs that exist.

let's get you some examples of words with diphthongs, so that you can see, in each case, how the two vowels that are joined in the word are pronounced in the same voice, that is, in the same syllable:

• chart
• oil
• I feel
• berets
• memory
• increase
• sane
• feudal
• castaway
• noisy
• tale
• you lose
• ancient
• phobia
• neuron
• to shave
• grinders
• room
• hairstyle
• blocks
• road
• strings
• town
• cornstarch
• coincidence
• laurel
• individual
• fire
• wheel
• kickback
• bone
• warm
• death
• darling
• triumphant
• slowly
• port
• diary
• education
• fear
• snows
• language

Examples of sentences with diphthong

Now we are going to put the diphthongs within its context, so you can see how they work when we put them into practice. We have indicated the word that has a diphthong in bold font, to make it easier for you to identify it:

• For her wedding there will be a hairstyle fabulous.
• The protagonist of the film was a woman. widow that the death of her husband.
• I read a detective story that she loved me.
• Yesterday I tried the dessert of vanilla further delicious of the world.
• I liked a lot the comedy musical that went let's see.
• He meeting of teachers will be in the classroom magna of the school.
• They gave me a bouquet of colored flowers violet.
• As always, were to dance to the center of the city.

the hiatus occurs when a word has two contiguous vowels that belong to different syllables. That is, it is the opposite phenomenon of the diphthong.

For example: root

the word "root" has two vowels together, "a" and "i", but both are pronounced with two voice strokes, that is, they belong to different syllables: root. Therefore, these two vowels form a hiatus.

Now we leave you with some examples of words that contain hiatus, so that you can find the differences that this concept presents with the diphthong that we have explained to you previously:

• abbey
• Dew
• mess
• orthography
• agony
• advocacy
• river
• cockatoo
• vary
• will
• read
• crowd
• duo
• piggy bank
• spike

Examples of sentences with hiatus

These are some sentences containing words with hiatus. We have indicated them in bold, so that you can understand how they work within a sentence:

• When you read The allegory from Plato's cave, you understand many things about this Greek philosopher and about society in general.
• I feel a great happiness for your personal achievements
• You have to be careful with ammonia, because it has a very strong, penetrating and unbearable smell
• The two friends and a young woman found themselves involved in a great love affair.
• Genes can have different anomalies.
• Depression, as a disease, produces a great apathy in who suffers from it.
• My friend Martin studies archeology.
• Lend me the yellow pencil fluorine, please.
• Valentin has taken some Photographs precious.

The best way to understand a lesson is by putting the theory into practice and that is what we propose in this last section. The following sentences contain a hiatus or a diphthong and your work will be identify and mark it:

• In this area it is very cold during summer nights.
• The beach is deserted.
• In the square there was a large crowd gathered to celebrate.
• The restaurant is closed for holidays.
• The trip was a complete success.

we leave you with the solutions to exercise previous of diphthongs and hiatuses. We have marked the word in bold and, next to it, we have written down which of the two phenomena it belongs to:

• In this area long ago cold during summer nights. - Hiatus
• the beach is deserted. - Diphthong
• In the square there was a great crowd gathered to celebrate. - Hiatus
• He restaurant it is closed for holidays. - Diphthong
• He journey it was all a success. - Diphthong

We hope this lesson has helped you understand Why does the word "earth" contain a diphthong? and not a hiatus. If you are interested in continuing to learn more about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to consult our spelling section.

If you want to read more articles similar to Is the word TIERRA a diphthong or a hiatus?, we recommend that you enter our category of Grammar and Linguistics.

• Ordonez, S. g. (2019). About the spelling diphthong. Archivum: Magazine of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, (69), 161-213.
• Lakarra, J. TO. (2010). Haches, diphthongs and other details of some importance: notes on (proto) Basque numerals and Basque-Iberian comparison (with an appendix on 'hiri' and another on 'bat-bi'). veleia, (27).