Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pentaphthong

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: pen-taph-thong
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A sequence of five vowels pronounced as, or almost as, a single syllable.

Example Sentences

"Fifty-six diphthongal combinations may be made from the eight vowel elements, four of which, though, we find to be necessarily triphthongs, two tetraphthongs, and one a pentaphthong."
"Try saying the Dutch word Leeuwen some time. At least a pentaphthong..."
"Someone once claimed that Pres. Coolidge ( a Vermonter) pronounced the vowel in "cow" as a pentaphthong."
"Phonetically, [j] is meaningless, it's the same as an [i]. So what we have here is a pentaphthong: ui@iu."

Etymology

From penta- + -phthong, by analogy with diphthong, triphthong.

Inflected Forms

pentaphthongs (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

monophthong diphthong triphthong tetraphthong

Questions

What does pentaphthong mean?: A sequence of five vowels pronounced as, or almost as, a single syllable.
Where does pentaphthong come from?: From penta- + -phthong, by analogy with diphthong, triphthong.

How to pronounce pentaphthong

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pentaphthong”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “pentaphthong” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.