ƆɪƏ - LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN O + SMALL UPPER CASE I + SCHWA
Falling, narrow, back centring/opening diphthong + /ə/.
In this phonemic combination in which the diphthong /ɔɪ/ is followed by /ə/, as in e.g. joyous, the diphthongal glide is abruptly interrupted, and then the tongue moves with an audible glide to a relatively open variety of /ə/.
The lips change from open rounded to neutral. As this sound combination is usually regarded as spreading over two syllables, it would be wrong to regard it as a triphthong. The movement of the tongue is not extensive.
There is a tendency in rapid General and Refined RP to omit the second element /ɪ/, reducing the glide to just two elements usually to the diphthong /ɔə/, or to one element, a half-open variety of the long monophthong /ɔː/.
Spelling
| <oyer, oyable> | employer /ɪmˈplɔɪə/, destroyer /dɪˈstrɔɪə/, foyer /ˈfɔɪeɪ/ |
| <oya> | enjoyable /ɪnˈdʒɔɪəbl̩/ |
Examples
employer /ɪmˈplɔɪə/
destroyer /dɪˈstrɔɪə/
foyer /ˈfɔɪəɪ/
soya /ˈsɔɪə/
enjoyable /ɪnˈdʒɔɪəbl̩/
joyous /ˈdʒɔɪəs/
buoyant /ˈbɔɪənt/
Roger met his joyous and flamboyant lawyer in the foyer.
/ˈrɒdʒə met ɪz ˈdʒɔɪəs ənd flæmˈbɔɪənt ˈlɔːjər ɪn ðə ˈfɔɪeɪ/
Being an employer or an employee these days is not something enjoyable.
/ˈbiːɪŋ ən ɪmˈplɔɪər ɔːr ən ˌemplɔɪˈiː ðiːz ˈdeɪz ɪz nɒt ˈsʌmθɪŋ ɪnˈdʒɔɪəbl/
Pronunciation
The tongue moves upwards from below half-open back position in the direction of a haf-close front position and then it moves downwards towards an open variety of /ə/.
The lips change from open rounded to neutral. The soft palate is raised (unless followed by a nasal).