A Latin word has as many syllables as it has vowels and diphthongs.
In diphthongs the accented vowel only is considered if the diphthong occur in an accented syllable.
The rule that overrode all others, though it has the exceptions given below, was that vowels and any other diphthongs than au and eu, if they were followed by two consonants, were pronounced short.
We have, therefore, twenty-six letters with which to express fifty or more sounds, not counting the digraphs and diphthongs.
To adopt such an idea would simplify the teaching of the vowels to learners, since you could absorb these so-called diphthongs into the simple system.
Target words containing short vowels and /l/ codas were produced as open syllables with diphthongs.
We have no explanation for this pattern except that diphthongs seemed to pattern as a vowel plus coda in disyllables for this particular child.
