Jump to navigation Jump to search Today I learn a new thing about diphthong and silent letter . This is very important for me to speak English . For spellings consisting of two vowel letters, which especially in English are often not pronounced as two different vowel sounds, see digraph (orthography) .A diphthong ( / ˈ d ɪ f θ ɒ ŋ / DIF -thong or / ˈ d ɪ p θ ɒ ŋ / DIP -thong ; from Greek : δίφθογγος , diphthongos , literally "double sound" or "double tone"), also known as a gliding vowel , is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable . Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of the speech apparatus ) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In many dialects of English , the phrase no highway cowboys / ˌ n oʊ ˈ h aɪ w eɪ ˈ k aʊ b ɔɪ z / has five distinct diphthongs, one in every syllable . Diphthongs contrast with