Nuts and Bolts: monophthongs.

A monophthing is a simple thing, and I'm featuring it here mostly because it's such a cherishably ridiculous word.

Monophthong. 

(You can have monophthongization, too. Good grief.)

A monophthong is a vowel sound that stays the same all the way through as you say it.

For example, a monophthong can be found in the middle of the word got. That o doesn't wander about, it's just a single sound. But the o in go, for instance, does change towards the end. To prove this, try saying the word go without moving your mouth or tongue and you'll see how clever you're usually being when you say it.

The o in go is a diphthong.

Languages change over time, and on the whole they tend to get simpler. One way this can happen is that diphthongs turn into monophthongs, a process called monophthongization.

Ridiculous, isn't it.

Word To Marvel At Today: monophthong. In Ancient Greek monos means single and phthongos means sound.