Diphthong

Many among us are not familiar with diphthongs but they are found in every phrase, sentence and paragraph. Question: How important are they in the Zamboangueño Chavacano language and what does "diphthong" mean? Answer: They are very important! Diphthongs are combinations of two vowels pronounced together in the same syllable, which produce a new distinct sound.

The two vowels form a diphthong that is difficult to pronounce.

Hiatus is when one vowel follows another vowel without creating a diphthong.

In Lang Belta vowels usually appear preceding or following a consonant (see previous examples), and as of now no occurrence of diphthongs or triphthongs has been attested.

And he might have written the name, also, with the diphthong æ, as well as the single vowel, in the initial syllable, throughout all the preceding forms.

An improper diphthong has only one of the vowels sounded; as, ea in heat, oa in coal.

The diphthong ae is sounded like ē (§7); that is, it has the sound of ey in they.