Diphthongs & Triphthongs

The chart below, demonstrating the diphthongs and triphthongs of General American (GenAm)and Standard British English (RP), was designed with Flash animation by Eric Armstrong of York University, Toronto, Canada; and voiced by Paul Meier, of the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA. It is provided as an aid to actors learning accents, and students of dialects and phonetics. If you are studying dialects, or ESL (English as a Second Language), using Paul Meier Dialect Services books and CDs, and want to hear one of the "signature sounds" in isolation, or in comparison with other sounds, you may do so using the interactive chart here. If the chart did not load properly, you may need to install Flashplayer, available free. You will need to be able to view this chart in its entirety — without scrolling — to use all its interactive features. If you cannot do so, change your screen resolution to make the image smaller. Microsoft Windows users should open Start/Control Panel/Display/Settings and select a higher screen resolution. Mac users should open System Preferences/Displays and select the highest resolution possible. 1024x768 should be enough.