Triphthong

A triphthong is a long sound which is comprised of three combined vowel sounds in a single syllable. Some speakers break triphthongs into two syllables, a diphthong and a schwa.

Examples
A dot signals syllable boundary.


 * /aʊə/: hour /aʊər/ and also /ˈaʊ.ər/. Compare with power, always /ˈpaʊ.ər/.
 * /aɪə/: fire /faɪər/ and also /ˈfaɪ.ər/. Compare with liar, always /ˈlaɪ.ər/.
 * /jʊə/: cure /kjʊər/ and also /ˈkjuː.ər/. Compare with fewer, always /ˈfjuː.ər/.

The following words are almost always heard as disyllables:
 * /eɪə/: player /ˈpleɪ.ər/ could be pronounced /pleɪər/
 * /ɔɪə/: royal /ˈrɔɪ.əl/ could be pronounced /rɔɪəl/
 * /əʊə/: lower /ˈloʊ.ər/ could be pronounced /loʊər/

Note
Linguist John Wells thinks there are no triphthongs in English, and in all cases there are two syllables. This means that the difference between liar /ˈlaɪ.ər/ and lyre /laɪər/ does not exist: many people agree that these two words are homophones. Note that Wells considers cure /kjʊər/ to be a monosyllable, but not a triphthong, because /j/ is a semivowel and not a vowel.