Triphthong

三合元音

A term used in the phonetic classification of vowel sounds on the basis of their manner of articulation: it refers to a type of vowel where there are two noticeable changes in quality during a syllable, as in a common pronunciation of English fire and tower /faɪə/ and /taʊə/. The distinction between triphthongs and the more common diphthongs is sometimes phonetically unclear.

语音学按发音方式给元音分类的术语，指一类元音在音节内音质有两次明显的变化，例如英语fire“火”和tower“塔”二词的通常发音/faɪə/和/taʊə/。三合元音和比较常见的二合元音的区别有时在语音上不太清楚。