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

waterman

noun, proper noun

Forms watermen Watermans

  1. noun (obsolete) A seaman, a sailor.
  2. noun A man who lives or works on the water; a boatman.
  3. noun Someone who distributes or supplies water for a living; a water-carrier.
  4. noun (dated) Specifically, an attendant on cab stands who supplies water to the horses.
  5. noun (surfing) A man skilled in multiple aquatic sports disciplines, such as surfing, bodysurfing, undersea diving, canoe paddling, fishing, etc.
  6. proper noun An occupational surname.
  7. proper noun A village in DeKalb County, Illinois.
  8. proper noun A ghost town in Wheeler County, Oregon.
  9. proper noun An unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington.

Synonyms

boatman boater

Etymology

From Middle English waterman, equivalent to water + -man.

From the occupation of waterman, from water + man.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A man who plies for hire on rivers, lakes, or canals, or in harbors, in distinction from a seaman who is engaged on the high seas; a man who manages fresh-water craft; a boatman; a ferryman.
  2. noun An attendant on cab stands, etc., who supplies water to the horses. [Eng.] Dickens.

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