The interpretation of the [aIə] as triphthong or diphthong varies according to one's source. For singers (I stated that my background was from diction as taught

The interpretation of the [aIə] as triphthong or diphthong varies according to one's source. For singers (I stated that my background was from diction as taught to singers), we tend to be taught that it's a triphthong, because for singing or stage diction, it's often desirable to not be saying an American "r" for seconds at a time...not a pleasing sound. The IPA symbol used varies as well, for the same reasons. Of course, in some places in the South, "fire" has the same pronunciation as "far".