Does ⟨у⟩ act as a diphthong in Russian
Is the letter ⟨у⟩ diphthongized in Russian after other vowels?
Example:
шоу
Is it pronounced "шоў" [ʂo͡ʊ] (оу is one syllable)
or
"шо́у" [ˈʂo.ʊ] (о and у are different syllables)

Question

Does ⟨у⟩ act as a diphthong in Russian
Is the letter ⟨у⟩ diphthongized in Russian after other vowels?
Example: 
шоу
Is it pronounced "шоў" [ʂo͡ʊ] (оу is one syllable)
or 
"шо́у" [ˈʂo.ʊ] (о and у are different syllables)

Answer

There are NO diphthongs in Russian. So, there are two syllables in this word (шо-y). BUT: the first syllable is stressed while the second one is unstressed; that is why when you pronounce the world «шоу» the second syllable is much more shorter than the first one. 
https://slogi.su/шоу
https://forvo.com/word/шоу/#ru (how to pronounce)

Answer

Yes. It acts as a diphthong.

Answer

Nope. 
Of course many things get reduced in Russian and maybe phonetically it can sound like that, but phonemically it is not.

Answers · 4

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