Smoothing

A process by which some triphthongs such as /aɪǝ/, as in higher, and /aʊə/, as in tower, may lose their second vowel quality and their pronunciation becomes more similar to a long monophthong such as [ɑː].
A very interesting blog entry on smoothing here.


Corks with silver tops, Bible and prayer [preə] book.	In all the movies I’ve made, you’re constantly being asked to elevate the material, expand it, fill it, create layers [leəz], find a calibration in i[ʔ].
Firstly, I totally accept that the higher [haə] and higher [haə] it goes, the less it helps, you know, the poor.	A tower [taə] of strength.