Triphthongs are vowel sounds made by combining three vowel sounds together.
For example the ower sound in flower.
There are a few triphthongs in English, such as "ire," "our," and "ear." Triphthongs are vowel sounds made up of three distinct vowel qualities within the same syllable.
A triththong is a complex vowel sound that combines three distinct vowel qualities within a single syllable. In English, triththongs are relatively rare compared to diphthongs and triphthongs, which typically involve two or three vowel sounds. The term "triththong" is not commonly used in linguistic discussions; instead, "triphthong" is the correct term for a sequence of three vowel sounds. Examples of triphthongs in English include "fire" and "our."
There are four triphthongs in the English language: /aɪə/ as in "fire," /aʊə/ as in "hour," /eɪə/ as in "player," and /ɔɪə/ as in "boil."
A diphthong is a vowel sound created by combining two different vowels in one syllable. A triphthong is a vowel sound created by combining three different vowels in one syllable. A triphthong may form simple or compound sounds.
English has 5 written vowels (a,e,i,o and u), but 20 vocalic sounds: 12 vowel sounds (/i:/,/ɪ/,/e/,/æ/,/ɑ:/,/ɒ/,/ɔ:/,/ʊ/,/u:/,/ʌ/,/ɜ:/,/ə/), 8 diphthongs (centring: /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/; closing: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/; and /aʊ/, /əʊ/). Besides, 6 triphthongs (/eɪə/, /aɪə/, /ɔɪə/ /aʊə/, /əʊə/), and about 26 consonantal sounds.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It depends on the dialect of English you are referring to, and can vary from 14 to 20 or more.Basic Vowel Sounds (according to one classification scheme)long A - day, paid, namelong E - we, seed, beanlong I - lie, fine, sighlong O - bowl, comb, low, sewlong U (oo or yoo) - cool, moon, suit / cute, fuel, unitshort A - apple, bad, last,short E - bed, get, headshort I - did, pin, sitshort O - body, cop, hotshort U - cut, dumb, floodshort OO - good, foot, could, putR-shaped A - car, starR-shaped I (usually considered long E) - near, pierAW/OR (may include long O words in British English) - saw, lawn, caught / horse, courtR-shaped U - bird, her, heard, purr, urge* R-shaped long A - air, pairOI (oy)- boy, noise, pointOU (ow) - cow, sound, outSchwa sound (eh/uh) - unstressed sound like A in about or sofa, E in fasten*Schwa R sound (er/ur) - A in cedar, E in water(see related links)
English has 5 written vowels (a,e,i,o and u), but 20 vocalic sounds: 12 vowel sounds (/i:/,/ɪ/,/e/,/æ/,/ɑ:/,/ɒ/,/ɔ:/,/ʊ/,/u:/,/ʌ/,/ɜ:/,/ə/), 8 diphthongs (centring: /ɪə/, /eə/, /ʊə/; closing: /eɪ/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/; and /aʊ/, /əʊ/).Some include the sounds of 6 triphthongs (/eɪə/, /aɪə/, /ɔɪə/ /aʊə/, /əʊə/), and about 26 consonantal sounds.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The 15 vowel sounds taught under many guides include :the long sounds for A, E, I, O, and OOthe short sounds for A, E, I, O, and OOthe schwa (short U when stressed)the schwa R (short U followed by R when stressed)the diphthongs AW/OR, OI/OY, and OU/OWArranged by groups, they are:i: - see, heat (long E)ɪ - hit, sitting (short I)eɪ - say, eight (long A)e - met, bed (short E)æ - cat, black (short A)ə - away, cinema (schwa)ɜ: - turn, learn (long schwa-R)ɒ - hot, rock (short O)u: - blue, moon (long OO)ʊ - book, could (short OO)əʊ - go, home (diphthong O)ɔ: - call, four (the OR/AW sound)aɪ - five, eye (long I)aʊ - now, out (ou/ow pair)ɔɪ - boy, join (oi/oy pair)19 vowel soundsOmitted are the separate R sounds -ar (car), -ur (herd, bird), -air (care, pair), and the short U (uh) which is treated as a stressed schwa. These would bring the total to 19.Another way to reach 19 sounds is to treat the AW as a diphthong and define the long U as a separate (yoo) sound, giving you 5 long, 5 short, 2 OO, and 4 diphthong sounds. Making a schwa brings the total to 20 and two schwas would bring this total to 21.