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

breather

/ˈbɹiː.ðə(ɹ)/ noun

Forms breathers

  1. noun Something or someone that breathes.
  2. noun (specifically) A heavy breather.
  3. noun (colloquial) A short break; a rest or respite. “After a short breather she was ready to continue up the hill.”
  4. noun (physics) A spatially localized, time-periodic excitation in a one-dimensional lattice.
  5. noun (colloquial, dated) That which puts one out of breath, such as vigorous exercise.
  6. noun (mechanics) An air inlet path to the crankcase

Synonyms

hiatus moratorium recess breath breathing place breathing space breathing spell breathing time snorkel schnorkel schnorchel snorkel breather

Etymology

From breathe + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun One who breathes. Hence: (a) One who lives.(b) One who utters. (c) One who animates or inspires.
  2. noun That which puts one out of breath, as violent exercise. [Colloq.]

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