pentaphthong
nounEtymology From penta- + -phthong, by analogy with diphthong, triphthong.
1
Human sciences, Linguistics, Phonetics, Phonology, Sciences Rare A sequence of five vowels pronounced as, or almost as, a single syllable.
- 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.1866, Caleb Bates Josselyn, Elements of Pronunciation […], page 53:
- Try saying the Dutch word Leeuwen some time. At least a pentaphthong...1992 February 4, Graham Toal, “Vowel Raising Before Nasals”, in bit.listserv.words-l (Usenet):
2 more examples
- Someone once claimed that Pres. Coolidge ( a Vermonter) pronounced the vowel in "cow" as a pentaphthong.1993 December 23, Bob Simmonds, “Seamed phthongs”, in bit.listserv.words-l (Usenet):
- Phonetically, [j] is meaningless, it's the same as an [i]. So what we have here is a pentaphthong: ui@iu.2008 June 17, Ruud Harmsen, “British English "Joshua is"”, in sci.lang (Usenet):
- Coordinate terms
- monophthong, diphthong, triphthong, tetraphthong