Monophthong shows that a vowel is spoken with exactly one tone and one mouth position. For example, when you say "teeth", then while you are creating the sound of the "ee", nothing changes for that sound. A monophthong

/a/
/a:/
smak /smak/ smack	smaak /sma:k/ taste
bar /bar/ turn	baar /ba:ar/ billow

Table 2

/ɛ/	/ɛ:/
wer /vɛr/ again	wêr /vɛ:r/ where
tred /trɛd/ thirdly	trêd /trɛ:d/ pace
fest /fɛst/ waistcoat	fêst /fɛ:st/ fixed; firm; tight
test /tɛst/ test, check	têst /tɛ:st/ fire-pan, coal pan

Table 3

/ɔ/	/ɔ:/
ban /bɔn/ ban	bân /bɔ:n/ tyre
sot /sɔt/ crazy, mad	sâlt /sɔ:t/ salt
stal /stɔl/ shape	stâl /stɔ:l/ stable, shed
kat /kɔt/ cat	kâlt /kɔ:t/ conversation
grot /ɡrɔt/ cave	grôt /ɡrɔ:t/ pearl barley
hof /hɔv/ court	hôf /hɔ:v/ orchard; graveyard

Table 4

/ɪ/	/e:/
skil /skɪl/ shell grit	skeel /ske:l/ dispute
lid /lɪd/ member	leed /le:d/ sorrow
prik /prɪk/ pricker	preek /pre:k/ sermon
rip /rɪp/ rack	reep /re:p/ strip
witt(e) /vɪt/ to know	weet /ve:t/ wheat

Table 5

/ø/	/ø:/
nuk /nøk/ mood, quirk	neuk(e) /nø:k/ to fuck
nul /nøl/ zero	neul(e) /nø:l/ to tarry
rukk(e) /røk/ to manage	reuk /rø:k/ smell
nut /nøt/ use, value	neut /nø:t/ corbel

Table 6

/o/	/o:/
lok /lok/ bliss, joy	look /lo:k/ kind of wooden connecting piece
doch /doɣ/ to do (present tense stem)	dog(e) /do:ɣ/ be good
bom /bom/ bomb	boom /bo:m/ bottom

Table 7

/i/	/i:/
tyk /tik/ tick	tiik /ti:k/ mattress cover, pillow-slip
krych /kriɣ/ to get (preterite stem)	kriich /kri:ɣ/ pith, zip
syk(je) /sik/ to look for	siik /si:k/ ill

Table 8

/y/	/y:/
tút /tyt/ kiss	tút /ty:t/ spout

Table 9

/u/	/u:/
bûk /buk/ belly	boek /bu:k/ beech
poep /pup/ crap, shit	poep /pu:p/ kraut, Hun
hoes /huz/ (record) sleeve, dust cover	hûs /hu:z/ house
soes /suz/ choux pastry (case)	sûs /su:z/ drowse, doze
kroes /kruz/ mug	kroes /kru:z/ frizzy
dûk(e) /duk/ to dive	doek /du:k/ to dive (preterite stem)

For some vowel pairs there are not many contrasting pairs of morphemes — those with /ɛ/ - /ɛ:/, /ɔ/ - /ɔ:/, /ø/ - /ø:/, /o/ - /o:/, /i/ - i: , /y/ - /y:/, and /u/ - /u:/ are exhaustive lists. This may be due to the large number of monophthongs in the first place. Besides, fricatives by and large display a complementary distribution in that voiceless ones follow 'something short', whereas voiced ones greatly prefer to follow 'something long' (see the place of the fricatives in the syllable rhyme). This means that minimal pairs with fricatives only occur in case one member of the pair contains a voiced fricative preceded by a short vowel (a voiceless fricative preceded by a long vowel hardly occurs). Finally, there is a great deal of dialectal variation in Frisian, which blurs the picture. For instance, in some dialects dûk(e) /duk/ to dive and doek /du:k/ cloth constitute a contrasting pair, but in others, where doek has a short vowel, they are homophones.

Instead of the symmetrical system of nine short and nine long vowels (monophthongs) above, which is generally adopted in Frisian phonology, De Haan (1999) proposes an alternative, asymmetrical system.

KIND OF VOWELS – MONOPHTHONG & DIPHTHONG

What is Monophthong?

Monophthong is simply a vowel. The word monophthong comes from the old Greek language. Mono means one or single, and the -phthong means sound or tone. The word monophthong shows that a vowel is spoken with exactly one tone and one mouth position. For example, when you say “teeth”, then while you are creating the sound of the “ee”, nothing changes for that sound.

What is Diphthong?

A Diphthong is a vowel that a person has to move his or her mouth into two different positions to make. Diphthong comes from the old Greek language. Di means two or double, while the part -phthong means sound or tone, It is a vowel where two different vowel qualities can be heard. For examples are: waist, die, noise, road, house, fierce, bear, sure. Each of these is a different vowel sound.

The Difference between Monophthong and Diphtong

A monophthong is a simple vowel sound that a person does not have to move his mouth to make, like the “oo” sound in “book.” In a diphthong, the person combines two different monophthongs, as with the “oi” sound in the word “oil.” The person starts with the mouth in the position to make an “o” sound, then quickly moves the mouth to make a hard “e” sound. Another example is the “ou” sound in the word “house.” The mouth starts out making a sound like the soft “a” sound in “flat,” then moves to make the a hard “oo” sound like the one in “boots.“

The main difference is that a monophthong is a phoneme that consists of only one (“mono” means one) vowel sound and a diphthong is a phoneme consisting of two (“di” means two) vowel sounds that are “connected” or “linked” to each other.