A monophthong (Greek , "monophthongos" = single note) is a "pure" vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end

is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong. In the English language, there are in practice relatively few monophthongs. The position, beginnings, and endings of vowel articulation are perhaps the chief distinguishing feature among the various dialects of English; the differences between the pronunciations ofBritish English and American English are largely a result of the different realization of vowel sounds. The conversion of monophthongs to diphthongs, or of diphthongs to monophthongs, is a major element oflanguage change and is likely the cause of further changes. Some sounds that may be perceived by native speakers as monophthongs in both these varieties of English are, in fact, diphthongs; the vowel sound in pay is an example of this. Some dialects of English make monophthongs out of former diphthongs. The vowel boat is generally realized as a diphthong[] or []. Also, the speech of the southern United States tends to alter the diphthong /a/ as in eye to an [a] somewhere between // and //. On the other hand, former monophthongs have become diphthongs in American English such as the // in words like pin changing to [] in some American dialects. In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek , "diphthongos", literally "with two sounds" or "with two tones") is acontour vowelthat is, a unitary vowel that changes quality during its pronunciation, or "glides", with a smooth movement of the tongue from one articulation to another, as in the English words eye, boy, and cow. This contrasts with "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, where the tongue is held still, as in the English word papa. Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single vowel sounds (phonemes). In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pure vowels are transcribed with one letter, as in English "sum" [sm]. Diphthongs are transcribed with two letters, as in English "eye" [a] or "same" [sem]. The two vowel symbols are chosen to represent the beginning and ending positions of the tongue, though this can be only approximate. The diacritic }} is placed under the less prominent component to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a separate vowel, though it is sometimes left off in languages such as English, where there is not likely to be any confusion. (That is, in precise transcription,