Monophthong

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A monophthong (/ˈmɒnəfθɒŋ, ˈmɒnəp-/ MON-əf-thong, MON-əp-) is a pure vowel sound, or one whose articulation at beginning and end is relatively fixed, not gliding up or down towards a new position of articulation. A monophthong can be contrasted with a diphthong, where the vowel quality changes (glides from one quality to another) within the same syllable, and with hiatus, where two vowels are next to each other but in different syllables. A vowel sound whose quality does not change over the duration of the vowel is called a pure vowel. The word comes from Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos) 'one sound'.^[1] from μόνος (mónos) 'single' and φθόγγος (phthóngos) 'sound')