polyphthong noun2 •A phoneme that begins with the sound of one vowel or semivowel and transitions through one or more other (semi)vowel sounds.A syllable is short when ending in a short monophthong or in a short polyphthong; a syllable is long when ending in a consonant or in a long monophthong or a long polyphthong. — 1997 •A diaphoneme realized as a multitarget vowel in some but not necessarily all dialects. formspolyphthongs
