Today's Tittle: Diphthong

In typography, a diphthong isn’t just a sound, it’s a visual blend.

You’ve seen it in “æ” and “œ,” where two vowels fuse into one character, often to preserve the look or feel of a word's origin.

The word itself comes from the Greek diphthongos, meaning “double sound.”

Linguistically, it describes a vowel sound that shifts within the same syllable, like the “oi” in “voice” or “ou” in “loud.”

But in typography, it’s a nod to tradition. These ligatures were once standard in Latin, Old English, and early printed books.

Printers kept them to mimic handwritten forms and give text a scholarly edge.

Today, diphthongs show up mostly in decorative typefaces, branding, or to signal a bit of historical flair.

They don’t just connect letters, they carry a bit of the past with them.