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

Britain

/ˈbɹɪt.ən/ proper noun, noun, adjective

Forms Britains Brittain

  1. proper noun (loosely) The United Kingdom, a kingdom and country in Northern Europe including the island of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland on the northeastern portion of the island of Ireland.
  2. proper noun Great Britain, a large island (sometimes also including some of the surrounding smaller islands) off the north-west coast of Western Europe, made up of England, Scotland, and Wales; especially (but not exclusively) during antiquity.
  3. proper noun England, Scotland and Wales in combination.
  4. proper noun (obsolete) Brittany.
  5. proper noun (in the plural) The British Isles.
  6. proper noun (historical) The British state and its dominions and holdings; the British Empire.
  7. proper noun (in the plural) The British Empire.
  8. noun (now rare, historical) An ancient Briton.
  9. adjective (obsolete) Briton; British.

Synonyms

Gramarye United Kingdom UK U.K. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Great Britain

Etymology

From Middle English Britayne, Breteyn, from Anglo-Norman Bretaigne, Bretaine, from Latin Brittannia, variant of Latin Britannia, from Britannī; reinforced by native Old English Breten, from the same Latin source. Ultimately from Proto-Brythonic *Prɨdėn (“Britain”) from *Pritanī (also compare *Prɨdɨn (“Picts”) from *Pritenī), attested to in Ancient Greek as Πρεττανική (Prettanikḗ), compare Welsh Prydain. Doublet of Britannia and Brittany. More at Britto.

From Middle English brytayn, from Latin Britannus (adjective and noun, plural Britannī), apparently from Brythonic (compare Old Welsh Priten).

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