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

brummagem

adjective, proper noun, noun

Forms brummagems Brummajem

  1. adjective Cheap and showy; meretricious.
  2. proper noun (colloquial) Synonym of Birmingham
  3. noun A person from Birmingham.
  4. noun (obsolete, slang) A counterfeit coin.

Synonyms

Birmingham Brummie

Etymology

From Birmingham, England where cheap manufactured goods used to be produced.

Variant of Birmingham showing metathesis of the first two consonants, as well as affrication of /ɡ/ and elision of /n/.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Counterfeit; gaudy but worthless; sham. [Slang] "These Brummagem gentry." Lady D. Hardy.

Etymology [Birmingham (formerly Bromwycham), Eng., "the great mart and manufactory of gilt toys, cheap jewelry," etc.]

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