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

chauffeur

UK /ʃɒˈfɜː/ · US /ʃoʊˈfɝ/ noun, verb

Forms chauffeurs chauffeuring chauffeured

  1. noun A person employed to drive a private motor car or a hired car of executive or luxury class (like a limousine).
  2. noun (firefighting) The driver of a fire truck.
  3. verb (intransitive) To be, or act as, a chauffeur (driver of a motor car).
  4. verb (transitive) To transport (someone) in a motor vehicle.
  5. noun (historical) A brigand belonging to the bands who, around 1793, pillaged, burned, and killed in parts of France.

Synonyms

engineer transport bring shuttle drive around

Etymology

From French chauffeur (“heater, stoker”), as they were said to burn the feet of their victims to extort money.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun [pl.] (F. Hist.)
  2. noun Brigands in bands, who, about 1793, pillaged, burned, and killed in parts of France; --so called because they used to burn the feet of their victims to extort money.

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