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

catty

[ˈkʰæɾi] adjective, noun, proper noun

Forms cattier cattiest catties cattys cattee kati katti katty

  1. adjective (literally) Resembling or characteristic of a cat. “catty eyes”
  2. adjective (by extension, of a person or remark) With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset (particularly in interactions between women).
  3. noun A (unit of) weight used in China which is metricated in Mainland China as exactly 0.5 kg, and approximately 0.6 kg for other places.
  4. noun (slang) A catapult.
  5. proper noun (US, colloquial) The borough of Catasauqua in Pennsylvania.

Synonyms

catlike catly cattish feline bitchy malicious nasty snide spiteful cattie

Etymology

From cat + -y. Compare Dutch kattig, which also means “subtly hostile” and is formed the same way (kat + -ig); see also catfight.

From Malay kati, from Tamil கட்டி (kaṭṭi).

Diminutive + -y.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun An East Indian Weight of 11/3 pounds.

Etymology [Malay kati. See Caddy.]

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