Triphthong

A triphthong is the union of three vowels in the same syllable. It will always be a closed vowel plus an open vowel followed by a closed vowel to form "triphthong".

Triphthong in Spanish

In Spanish, a triphthong is always the union of three vowels that are pronounced in the same syllable, two of them closed and one open, according to the scheme:

VDVFVD{displaystyle {mbox{V}}_{D}{mbox{V}}{F}{mbox{V}_{D},}

The strong vowel occupies the central position and is flanked by two weak vowels. Some examples: riais, amortiguáis, aliviáis, acariciéis, Paraguay, Uruguay, despreciéis, criais, Guaiqueri, semiautomatic and scallop. There are 9 possible combinations between the central a, e, o and the flanking i, u: iai, iei, ioi; woo, woo, woo; Whoa, whoa, whoa. The following combination is not triphthong but hiatus+diphthong when the stress falls on the first weak vowel, as in the word rompíais.

It is necessary that none of the closed vowels be tonic for a triphthong to exist.

Accentuation of words with triphthongs

Words with triphthongs follow the general rules of accentuation. Thus, lieis does not have an accent because it is a monosyllable word.

Placing the tilde in triphthongs

Tripthong is the sequence of three vowels that form part of the same syllable: a - pre - ciáis, co - piéis, buey. For a triphthong to exist, two unstressed closed vowels (i, u) must be combined and, in the middle of these, an open vowel (a, e, o): announce, wow, meow, trust. The sequences of closed vowel (weak) + open vowel (strong) + closed vowel (weak) are not triphthongs in Spanish when one of the two closed vowels (weak) is tonic. So whenever the close (weak) vowel is stressed, the triphthong is automatically destroyed no matter how the word is structured. What there is in these cases is a hiatus followed by a diphthong, when the first closed (weak) vowel is tonic: vivíais (vi - ví - ais); or a diphthong followed by a hiatus, when the second closed vowel is tonic: limpiaúñas (lim - pia - ú - ñas).

The same sequence of unstressed closed vowel + open vowel + unstressed closed vowel can be pronounced, in some words, forming part of the same syllable, that is, as a triphthong, and, in others, in two different syllables, that is, as a hiatus followed by a diphthong, or vice versa; Thus, the sequence iei is pronounced as a triphthong in the word cambiéis [cam - biéis] and as a hiatus + diphthong in confiéis [con - fi - éis], at least in Spain and in the American countries where the antihiatic tendency is less strong. However, for the purposes of graphic accentuation, any sequence formed by an open vowel between two unstressed close vowels will always be considered a triphthong, regardless of its actual articulation in one or two syllables.

Usually they end in iái, for example:

The tilde (if needed) always goes over the open vowel: consensuéis (con-sen-suéis), habituáis (ha-bi-tuáis), tuáutem (tuáu-tem)..

It is always accompanied by the pronoun "your"