Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

United Kingdom

/juːˌnaɪ.tɪd ˈkɪŋ.dəm/ proper noun

Forms the United Kingdom UK U.K.

  1. proper noun A kingdom and country in Northern Europe, comprising the four countries of England, Scotland and Wales on the island of Great Britain, and Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland since 1922.
  2. proper noun (historical) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922).
  3. proper noun (historical, informal, nonstandard) The Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1801).
  4. proper noun (nation's name) A kingdom consisting of several constituencies, either actual, historical, or hypothetical. “the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves”

Synonyms

Blighty Old Blighty Old Dart UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Great Britain Britain England Kingdom of Great Britain U.K.

Etymology

From united + kingdom, first attested from 1706.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “United Kingdom”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details