O vowel encounter happens when a word has the sound of two or more vowels in sequence in the word. this vowel encounter can be classified as diphthong, tritongo or hiatus, depending on how these vowel sounds appear in the word and between the syllables.
Read too: What are the different sounds of the letter x?
Summary about vowel encounter
The vowel encounter happens when there are sounds of two or more vowels in sequence in the word.
When the vowel sound is strong and marked, it is called a “vowel”, which can be represented by the letters “A”, “E”, “I”, “O” and “I”.
When the vowel sound is weak and less marked, it is called a “semivowel”, occurring only with the letters “I” and “U”.
There are three types of vowel encounters: diphthong, tritongo and hiatus.
The diphthong is the meeting of a vowel and a semivowel in the same syllable. It can be ascending or descending, oral or nasal.
The tritongo is the meeting of a vowel between two semivowels in the same syllable.
A hiatus is the meeting of two vowels or a vowel and a semivowel in different syllables.
Video lesson on vowel encounters
What is vowel encounter?
The vowel encounter is the sequence of two (or more) vowel sounds in the same word. These vowel sounds can be in the same syllable or not, as long as there is no consonant sound between them.
Among the letters that can represent vowel sounds, we have: “A”, “E”, “I”, “O” and “U”.
vowels and semivowels
To understand the types of vowel clusters, we first need to understand two other classifications: vowels and semivowels.
When the vowel sound is strong and marked on the syllable, it is simply calledvowel, which can be represented by the letters “A”, “E”, “I”, “O” and “U”.
When the vowel sound is weaker and less marked in the syllable, it is calledsemivowel. Only two letters can be classified as a semivowel: “I” and “U”.
Examples:
"CADANDIFROG"
In the word “CHAIR”, the syllable “DEI” has a vowel with a very strong sound (“E”), and a semivowel, that is, a vowel with a weaker sound (“I”).
“OURO"
Likewise, in the word “GOLD”, the syllable “OR” has a vowel (“O”) and a semivowel (“U”).
Now that you've learned what a vowel and semivowel are, let's understand the vowel cluster types.
See too: K, W and Y: vowels or consonants?
Diphthong
O diphthong happens when a vowel and a semivowel appear together in the same syllable. It can be ascending or descending and oral or nasal.
crescent diphthong
The crescent diphthong occurs when the sequence is composed of a semivowel first and a vowel after. Thus, the sound is increasing, that is, from the weakest vowel to the strongest vowel. See some examples:
semivowel + vowel = crescent diphthong
LANGUAGEUTHE
QUTHEIF
IGUTHEL
LINGUIHERE
FREQUANDNTE
ATTENTION! Note that, in the words above, all vowels are pronounced. When the vowel does not sound pronounced, there is no vowel encounter. Example: in the word “QHUHBRAR”, the letter “U” has no sound, therefore, there is no vowel encounter.
descending diphthong
The diphthong is decreasing when the vowel sound is from strongest to weakest, that is, when the vowel appears first and then the semivowel. This type of diphthong is more common than the crescent diphthong. Let's look at some more examples:
vowel + semivowel in the same syllable = descending diphthong
BOI
MTHEU
MUI-TO
FORANDI-X AND
FORTHEI
oral diphthong
In the oral diphthong, the sound happens with the air passing only through the mouth. See the examples and try reading aloud to see how this sound is made:
RANDI
FOROU-CO
ÇÉU
HE-RÓI
AZUIs
nasal diphthong
In the nasal diphthong, the sound is a little nasalized, so the air not only passes through the mouth, but also through the nose. See the examples and try reading aloud to see how this sound is made:
ÇÃI-BRA
MUI-TO
Many nasal diphthongs have the nasalized sound represented by letters other than the letter "I" or the letter "U". However, when we speak the word, the sound that comes out is similar to that represented by these letters. Read aloud:
MÃO
FORÃANDs
In this case, the letter “O” has the semivowel sound “U”, while the letter E has the semivowel sound “I”.
VE-NHTHEM
BANDN-ZI-NHO
Now, although the letters “M” and “N” are used, which are consonants, they represent the same sound as the semivowel “U” (in “VENHAM”) and the semivowel “I” (in “BENZINHO”).
Triphthong
O triphthong occurs when there is three vowel sounds in a row, being of a vowel between two semivowels.
semivowel + vowel + semivowel in the same syllable = tritongo
Tritongo can be oral or nasal.
Oral Tritongo
The oral tritongo occurs when vowel sounds are made with air passing only through the mouth. Read the examples below aloud to see how this happens:
URUGUTHEI
STOPUTHEI
RINSINGUTHEI
IGUTHEIs
nose tritongo
Nasal tritongo occurs when vowel sounds are made with the air passing through mouth and nose. Read the examples below aloud to see how this happens:
SAGUÃO
QUÃO
RINSINGUTHEM
ATTENTION! Note that, in the examples above, the vowel “O”, in the words “SAGUÃO” and “QUÃO”, represents the vowel sound of the semivowel “U”. Likewise, in the word “ENXÁGUAM”, the letter “M” also represents the vowel sound of the semivowel “U”.
Gap
O gap occurs when there is two vowel sounds in a row. As both are vowel sounds (and therefore strong and marked), they do not stay in the same syllable. See the examples below:
vowel + vowel in separate syllables = hiatus
HI-THE-TO
BTHE-Ú
FORTHE-Ís
sTHE-Ú-IN
ZO-O-LOGICAL
Differences between vowel cluster and consonant cluster
The vowel encounter is the sequence of vowel sounds without consonant sounds between them. O consonant cluster, in turn, is the sequence of sounds of consonants no vowel sounds between them. see some consonant clusters:
PRTO NEED
OKNTO
BRNAKED
CLARO
TORTO
See too: What are phonemes?
Solved exercises on vowel encounter
Question 1 - Tick the alternative where there is a diphthong, a tritongo and a hiatus.
A) Bird - Trip - Sky
B) Recipe – Sausage – Keyboard
C) Country – Paraguay – Caatinga
D) Fifty – Music – Chest
Resolution
Alternative C. In the word “pais”, there is a diphthong, since the vowel “a” and the semivowel “i” are in the same syllable; in the word “Paraguay”, there is tritongo, since the vowel “a” is between the semivowels “u” and “i”, in the same syllable; and, in the word “caatinga”, there is a hiatus, since there are two vowels together (“a” and “a”), but which do not remain in the same syllable (“ca-a-tin-ga”).
Question 2 - Each utterance below has an underlined vowel encounter word. Classify them by identifying whether a diphthong, tritongo or hiatus occurs.
A) But you already have a drawing equal.
B) Have you already traveled to the Uruguay?
C) This parents is far from here.
D) I really like going to the theater.
E) She is waiting at the lobby.
F) My favorite fruit is the papaya!
Resolution
A) I-gwowl: diphthong (oral and crescent)
B) U-ru-gWow: tritongo (oral)
C) PThe-ís: hiatus
D) Tand-The-tro: hiatus
E) Sa-ghuh: tritongo (nasal)
F) Ma-mto: diphthong (nasal and descending)
