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

voodoo

UK /ˈvuːduː/ · US /ˈvudu/ noun, verb

Forms voodoos voodooing voodooed vodou vodoun voudon voudoun vodun voudou

  1. noun Any of a group of related religious practices found chiefly in and around the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti and Louisiana.
  2. noun The spiritual beliefs of the Ewe/Fon of West Africa, practiced chiefly in Benin and in the south of Togo.
  3. noun (derogatory) Any sort of magical or irrational approach to a problem. “I want a real explanation, not this statistical voodoo.”
  4. noun (dated) One who practices voodoo; a native sorcerer.
  5. verb To bewitch someone or something using voodoo “He claimed his neighbor had voodooed him.”

Synonyms

voodooism juju hoodoo fetish fetich vodoun hoodooism

Etymology

From Louisiana Creole voudou, from Haitian Creole Vodou, from a West African language, such as Ewe vódũ (“deity, idol”), Fon vòdún (“fetish”) or the Kwa languages vodũ.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun See Voodooism.
  2. noun One who practices voodooism; a negro sorcerer.
  3. adjective Of or pertaining to voodooism, or a voodoo; as, voodoo incantations.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “voodoo”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details