The “a” diphthong, /eɪ/ (Face/Bake/Cake)
Diphthongs are sounds that contain two sounds within one syllable. If you were to clap for each syllable while you say these words, the diphthong would be part of just one clap. In this article, we’ll talk about how to pronounce the “A” diphthong, or /eɪ/ in British and American English.
How to pronounce /eɪ/
To make the /eɪ/ diphthong sound, you will need to know how to make the separate sounds of /e/, as in “egg” or “any”, and /ɪ/, as in “fish” and “pin”, shortly after each other. In a diphthong, the sound slides from the one sound, in this case the /e/ to the /ɪ/. You may notice that your lips get slightly closer to each other and move slightly forward as you move from the /e/ sound to the /ɪ/ sound.
Examples of the /eɪ/ diphthong
This sound is commonly used in both British and American English.
The /eɪ/ sound can be created in multiple ways, including by writing a, ai, ay, ei, ey, ea.
- Face /feɪs/
- Make /meɪk/
- Cake /keɪk/
- Eight /eɪt/
- Gray /ɡreɪ/
- Aim /eɪm/
- Break /breɪk/
Need help?
For more on diphthongs, check out these articles:
- Introduction To Diphthongs
- /ɔɪ/ (Choice/Voice/Noise)
- /aɪ/ (Rice/Die/Bike)
- /oʊ/ (No, Low,Go)
- /aʊ/ (Out/Cow/South)
- /eə/ (Bear, Square, Mare) (British English)
- /ɪə/ (Ear/Here/Near) (British English)
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