Diphthong Souls

Poet's Notes

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Background: OK I admit it. I fell in love with diphthong the first time I pronounced it in my mind; the first time I saw it on a page; the first time Spell-checker corrected its spelling! A diphthong is a sound derived from two vowels, starting with one vowel sound, and flowing onto another. For example: the 'oy' sound in 'oil'. The word 'Diphthong' is derived from the Greek word 'diphthongos' which means "having two sounds." I especially like the concept of a pair together, a duo, a couple, but sounding one after the other to create something new - a combined sound, made by sounding the vowels, one after the other, to create a new sound.

Listen to poem:

Diphthong you fake, you charlatan. 'ph' and 'th' be not vowels! What strange bed fellows in ensemble A Greek tongue twister to boot! But I love you, all the same. Lovely sound, Love at first sight. Your meaning so evocative of couples, partners, pairs in harmony. Vowels apart, but sounding one after the other, a duo performance. Separate identity retained, but embellished and combined to create a new sound. A Diphthong is like writers and how their readers respond. The writer, conducts a choir of readers with vowel sound voices, Each idea read, evokes multiple responses, With new thoughts and sounds conceived, one after the other. Each reader in harmony, a duo with writer, improvising with the writer's lead. It is a diphthong concert of souls, jamming together.