Meanings
nounmonophthong (plural monophthongs)
plural monophthongs
- A vowel (in the sense of a sound rather than a letter of the alphabet) that has the same sound throughout its pronunciation, such as the short vowels in "pap", "pep", "pip", "pop" and "pup", as opposed to a diphthong (eg, /aɪ/, the vowel in "pipe") or a triphthong (eg, /aɪə/, the sound in the non-rhotic pronunciation of "pyre").
Origin
- Ancient Greekμονόφθογγος
- Englishmonophthong
From Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos), from μόνος (mónos, “single”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος
- μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Bulgarian монофто́нг
- монофто́нг (monoftóng)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Chinese Mandarin 單元音 /单元音
- 單元音 /单元音 (dānyuányīn)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Danish monoftong, enkeltlyd
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
- enkeltlydvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Dutch monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Finnish yksinäisvokaali, monoftongi
- yksinäisvokaalivowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
- monoftongivowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
French monophtongue
- monophtonguevowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
German Monophthong
- Monophthongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Hungarian monoftongus, egyeshangzó
- monoftongusvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
- egyeshangzóvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Icelandic einhljóð
- einhljóðvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Irish aonfhoghar
- aonfhogharvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Italian monottongo
- monottongovowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Japanese 単母音
- 単母音 (tanboin)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Korean 단모음
- 단모음 (danmo'eum)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Latin monophthongus
- monophthongusvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Norwegian monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Persian واکهٔ ساده
- واکهٔ ساده (vâke-ye sâde)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Polish monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Portuguese monotongo
- monotongovowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Romanian monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Russian монофто́нг
- монофто́нг (monoftóng)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Swedish monoftong
- monoftongvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Ukrainian монофто́нг
- монофто́нг (monoftónh)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Vietnamese nguyên âm đơn
- nguyên âm đơnvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Welsh unsain
- unsainvowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Yiddish מאָנאָפֿטאָנג
- מאָנאָפֿטאָנג (monoftong)vowel that has same sound throughout its pronunciation
Cite this entry
APA
monophthong. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monophthong
MLA
“monophthong.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monophthong. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “monophthong,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/monophthong.
Source: monophthong on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.