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

blarney

UK /ˈblɑːni/ · US /ˈblɑɹni/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms blarneys blarneying blarneyed

  1. noun Mindless chatter. “He is full of blarney.”
  2. noun Ability to talk constantly and fluently.
  3. noun Persuasive flattery or kind speech; smooth, wheedling talk.
  4. verb To beguile with flattery.
  5. proper noun A town in County Cork, Ireland, location of Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone (Irish grid ref W 6175).

Synonyms

coaxing soft soap sweet talk wheedle cajole palaver coax sweet-talk inveigle

Etymology

Named after a legendary magical stone in Blarney Castle, Ireland that gives the gift of eloquence. See also Blarney Stone.

From Irish Blarna.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Smooth, wheedling talk; flattery. [Colloq.] Blarney stone, a stone in Blarney castle, Ireland, said to make those who kiss it proficient in the use of blarney.
  2. verb To influence by blarney; to wheedle with smooth talk; to make or accomplish by blarney. "Blarneyed the landlord." Irving.

Etymology [Blarney, a village and castle near Cork.]

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