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  #1  
Old 03-Jul-2008, 21:20
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Default The diphthong /au/

Among English diphthongs, /au/ seems to be the most eccentric one:
This could be illustrated by the words loud,gown and house.
I have heard many speakers pronounce the first vowel of the diphthong in house (i.e. /a/) like the vowel in mat , while many others pronounce the same sound like the vowel in pot.

Which one is generally accepted among English speaker(preferably Americans) ?
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Old 04-Jul-2008, 05:07
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Default Re: The diphthong /au/

I say /hćʊs/ as do most Australians, or even a more centralised /həʊs/
The British are more likely to say /hs/ as traditionally written, though accents vary a lot.
/hoʊs/ is problematic since /oʊ/ is used for the sound of ‘home, ‘bone’ etc. It would be uncommon to hear /hoʊs/.
I’ll let an American answer for Americans!
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Old 04-Jul-2008, 13:38
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Default Re: The diphthong /au/

See the standard English diphthongs chart at Diphthong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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