The “I” diphthong: /aɪ/ (Rice/Die/Bike)
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. Let’s take a look a the commonly used “I diphthong, pronounced as/aɪ/ in both American and British English.
How to produce /aɪ/
To make the /aɪ/ diphthong sound, you will need to know how to make the separate sounds of /a/ as in “start” and “arm”, 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 /a/ to the /ɪ/. You may notice that your jaw closes slightly as you move from the /a/ sound to the /ɪ/ sound.
Examples of the “I” Diphthong
As mentioned, we use this sound a lot in both British and American English.
The /aɪ/ sound can be created in multiple ways, including by writing i, i plus “magic e”, ie, ig, igh, y.
- Bind /baɪnd/
- Bike /baɪk/
- Die /daɪ/
- Sign /saɪn/
- Bright /braɪt/
- Cry /kraɪ/
- Eye /aɪ/
Need help?
For more on diphthongs, check out these articles:
- Introduction To Diphthongs
- /ɔɪ/ (Choice/Voice/Noise)
- /eɪ/ (Face/Make/Cake)
- /oʊ/ (No, Low,Go)
- /aʊ/ (Out/Cow/South)
- /eə/ (Bear, Square, Mare) (British English)
- /ɪə/ (Ear/Here/Near) (British English)
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