A spurious diphthong (or false diphthong) is an Ancient Greek vowel that is etymologically a long vowel, but is written exactly like a true diphthong ει, ου (ei, ou).[1]
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A spurious diphthong has two origins: from compensatory lengthening of short ε, ο (e, o) after the deletion of a consonant, or from contraction of two vowels:[2]
In general, spurious ει, ου contracts from ε, ο + ε, ο, ει, ου. The specific rules are more complex.
By contrast, true diphthongs are e or o placed before i or u. Some come from e-grade of ablaut + i, or o-grade + u, and coexist beside forms with the other grade:
Early in the history of Greek, the diphthong versions of ει and ου would have been pronounced as [ei̯, ou̯], and the long vowel versions as [eː, oː]. By the Classical period, the diphthong and long vowel had merged in pronunciation and were both pronounced as long monophthongs [eː, oː].
By the time of Koine Greek, ει and ου had shifted to [iː, uː]. (The shift of a Greek vowel to i is called iotacism.) In Modern Greek, distinctive vowel length has been lost, and the vowels are pronounced short, as [i, u].
Long e or o existed in two forms in Attic-Ionic: ει, ου and η, ω (ē, ō). In earlier Severer Doric, by contrast, only η, ω counted as a long vowel, and this was the vowel of contraction.[7] Though later forms of Doric contracted to ει, ου, throughout the history of Doric, compensatory lengthening used η, ω.[8]
"Severe" refers to the sterner-sounding open pronunciation of η, ω [ɛː, ɔː] in contrast to the closer ει, ου [eː, oː].