Falling diphthong

A falling diphthong is a diphthong whose first part is more sonorous, so that the stress is on their first part.

• "Those [diphthongs] in which the stress is strongest at or near the beginning are called falling diphthongs. (The stress falls.)" (Gleason 1955:203)

Examples

[au], [ei], [ou]

Reference

Gleason, H. Allan. 1955. An introduction to descriptive linguistics. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Other languages

German fallender Diphthong