Diphthong

ˈdɪfθɒŋ,ˈdɪp-/
noun
plural noun: diphthongs
1. 1.
a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single
syllable, in which the sound begins as one vowel and moves
towards another (as in coin, loud, and side).

What is the difference between pure vowels and diphthongs?

Pure vowels articulate a single vowel phoneme. Dipthongs
articulate combined vowel phonemes. According to the
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), there are eight dipthong
vowels. These are vowels that combine vowel sounds to create a
double sound. Dipthong consonants fit the same definition, a
doubling of consonant sounds, and are more familiar to most
people. Some familiar consonant dipthongs, which provide an
orientation for understanding vowel dipthongs, are sh, ch, th, pl,
sn, st, as in sheet, church, these, place, snack, and street.
The eight English vowel dipthongs are represented by the vowel
sounds in "stay" "try" "toy" "fear" "there" "sure" "mouth" and
"nose." The IPA alphabet signifies these eight dipthongs with
symbols, some of which I can't represent here. Others are signified
as follows. The dipthong (double sound) in stay is signified as
eI; try is aI; fear is I schwa; there is e schwa. The links below give
complete IPA dipthong information.

Vowel is a syllable that can be pronounced with free passage of

air. For example the type of sound we make when a doctor
examining our throat asks us to open our mouth and say ah...
Consonants as opposed to vowels are syllables that can not be
pronoun without some closing or restriction of the organs of
speech. A vowel can be an independent syllable, or it can be
combined with a consonant to form a syllable. In English the
letters a, e, i, o, and u always represent vowels. In addition letters
w and y also sometime represent vowels. Diphthongs are two
vowels pronounces as a single sound. For example 'ou' as
pronounced in the word out is a diphthong.
The pure vowels of English
 

The vowels can be plotted on a vowel diagram with reference to

the cardinal vowels. We shall first plot the pure vowels. Since all
vowels are voiced in English and there is no nasalized vowels we
assume that during the production of English vowels the vocal
cords are vibrating and the soft palate is raised to shut off the nasal
passage. We describe vowels in terms of the parts of the tongue
raised and the relative height to which it is raised in the mouth. The
front of the tongue raised can be fairly high mouth than for the
vowel in the bead or it can be slightly lower in the mouth for the
production of the vowel in bead for example, in bid and lower for
the vowel in bed and still lower for the vowel in bed. Similarly, the
back of the tongue is high in the mouth for the production of the
vowel in cool; it is slightly lower in the mouth low in the mouth for
the vowel in calm. Another important feature used to describe
vowels in the position of the lips during their production.
Sometimes the position of the lips is the only distinguishing
features-between two vowels. For example, the two vowels .a:/as
in calm, and/D as in hot, are both vowels during the production of
which the back of the tongue is low in the mouth, the only features
that differentiates /a/; from /D/ is the position of the lips. We have
referred to long and shorts vowels. When the talk about ‘long`
vowels what we refer to is the relative length of long vowels. In
identical environments long vowels are longer than short vowels.
For example, the vowel /I,/ in feet is longer than the vowel/I/ in fit.
These words differ in respect of the vowel alone. The two
consonants /f/ and /t/ are common to both. Apart from this, each
vowel has different degrees of length depending upon the phonetic
environments in which it occurs. For example, generally a vowel is
longer when it is followed by a voiced consonant or when it occurs
finally in a word than when it is followed by a voiceless consonant,
for example, the vowel Jar/ in side and sigh is longer than in sight.
The /ae/ in tag is longer than the /ae/ in tact. A vowel in the final
position in words is longer than it is before voiced consonants. For
example, the vowels/a/ is longer in the word car than in the word
card. Thus vowel length is a variant which depends upon the
position that it occupies in a word.