single word requests - Vowel is to diphthong as consonant is to?


While reading about diphthongs in a different question today, I noticed that while the word "diphthong" doesn't seem to contain any actual diphthongs, it does contain 3 sets of consonant groupings.


When I was younger, I used to think consonant groupings actually were called diphthongs. I know now that I was mistaken, but I do wonder - is there a single word that describes consonant groupings?


After doing some searching on Google, Wikipedia and this site, I'm unable to find a definitive answer besides "consonant cluster" or "consecutive consonant". Those terms may be the only accurate ones available, but I would be mildly disappointed.



Answer



The directly analogous term is indeed consonant cluster, a combination of consonant sounds that appear together.


It is possible that you are thinking of a digraph, which is two characters representing a single sound, rather than a blending of adjacent sounds as with a diphthong or consonant cluster. For example, the ch in church or the sh in hashish are digraphs.


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