What is ADIPTONGO: examples and meaning

Phonetics has different peculiarities. The pronunciation of vowels and consonants is not always done in the same way, since in many cases this will depend on the position of said vowels in the word. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to talk about the adiphthong: examples and meaning. In these cases we will see what happens when two vowels appear together in the same word and how something that you can apply in the syllables influences the separation of the syllables. metrics of poetry.

Adiphthongs are very frequent, you can find them in a multitude of words and they occur when in the same two vowels appear together. Adiphthongs can also be called hiatusesand consist of the separation of two vowels that are together in different syllables. This makes the diphthong they formed at first disappear when they are separated into different parts.

Therefore, they are two vowels that they are not pronounced together within the same syllableThis is due to the nature of these vowels, since it is not possible to pronounce them together. This phenomenon will cause the sounds to be separated into two different syllables.

We must point out that in the event that we find a h interleaved between two vowels within the same syllable, it will not be counted when creating an adiphthong or hiatus.

On the other hand, and before getting to know the existing types of adiphongs, it is necessary that we clarify the concept of open and closed vowels. The first ones, the open ones, are A, E and O. On the other hand, the closed vowels or also weak calls are the I and the U.

Adiphthongs or hiatuses are the separation of two consecutive vowels into two different syllables, but not all are the same and we can find two types:

• Vowel adiphthong: is the one that is done when we find two different open vowels or when the same open vowel is repeated.
• Accentual adiphthong: an open vowel and a closed vowel appear in it. The tonic is always the closed one regardless of the order in which they appear in the word.

When an adiphthong occurs

Adiphthongs are not always produced, for this they must meet a series of conditions. As we have already pointed out, its appearance will depend on the type of vowels we are facing. That is, if they are open or closed. Therefore, for an adiphthong to exist, it is necessary:

• That there is a union between a closed vowel tonic with an open vowel unstressed.
• A union of two different open vowels.
• Union of two equal vowels.

In order to better understand how adiphthongs or hiatuses work, we are going to see several examples. In the first place, we are going to focus on the cases that we have mentioned above and that are the ones that determine how a hiatus is formed. These formulas in which open and closed vowels are combined will be the ones that give us the key when it comes to locating the adiphongs and knowing how to locate them correctly, something that will be very useful when we have to perform metric tasks in the poetry.

When there is a union between a stressed closed vowel with an unstressed open vowel.

In this case we would find words that contain two vowels, one of them a closed vowel (I, U) stressed with an open vowel (A, E, O) unstressed. In other words, the accent would fall on the first and not on the second. Let's see it with these examples:

• Adiphthong aí: we find it in words like country. If we separate it, it would be like a country.
• Adiphthong still: in the word trunk (ba-úl)
• Adiphthong ei: in the word reí (re-í)
• Adiphthong eú: in the word reunite (re-ú-ne)
• Adiphthong ía: in the word Sofia (So-fí-a)
• Adiphthong ío: in the cold word (cold)
• Adiphthong ie: in the word smile (son-rí-e)
• Adiphthong I heard: in the word oí (o-í)
• Adiphthong oú: the word Finoúgrio (fi-no-ú-grio)
• Adiphthong úa: the word barb (pú-a)
• Adiphthong úo: the word owl (ow-ho)

Adiphthong with different open vowels

Let's see some examples of adiphongs when two open vowels appear that are different from each other. Some of these words are:

• Adiphong ae: the word paella (pa-e-lla)
• Adiphthong ea: the word theater (te-a-tro)
• Adiphthong eo: the word seasickness (ma-re-o)
• Adiphong ao: the word mahogany (ca-o-ba)
• Adiphong oa: the word boa (bo-a)
• Adiphong oe: the word poem (po-e-ma)

Adiphthong with two equal vowels

In this case, it is not distinguished if the vowels are open or closed to form an adiphthong. This occurs when two vowels appear that are the same. Let's see some examples:

• Cooperate (co-o-pe-rar)
• Provide (pro-ve-er)
• Zoo (zo-o-ló-gi-co)
• Believe (Believe)

In this lesson we have seen adiphthongs: definition and examples so that you can learn to identify them easily. If you want to continue learning about different topics you can visit our sections in which you can find very interesting material in different subjects so that you can continue to expand your knowledge.