Re: triphtong

Max #1 wrote:
> In my dictionnary (a French dictionnary), at the word "triphtong"
> (triphtongue) it says the normal stuff: a vowel that changes two times but
> they give as example the english word "fire"
>
> Does fire contain a triphong? probably something like /6i@/?
>
> Before reading this, I thought that fire were /f6j@`/ and that English
> didn't contain triphtongs

As some of the replies show, "fire" is considered 2 syllables by some,
perhaps many. As a noun, it's a grey area; as a verb, maybe it's 1 syl.,
hence a triphthong, since you can have the derivative "firing" ['faj.r\IN].

Even in Spanish, a form like "cambiáis" [kam'bjajs] (2pl. of cambiar 'to
change') is dubious, since -bj- is a permissible sequence of two consonants.

Similarly Engl. "yow!" or "yikes!"-- these may be triphthongs, or simply
cases of CVjC-