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

congo

/ˈkɒŋɡəʊ/ interjection, proper noun, noun

Also a form of congou

Forms congos congoes the Congo Kongo

  1. interjection (India) congratulations
  2. proper noun Democratic Republic of the Congo (a country in Central Africa, larger and to the east of the Republic of the Congo; official name: Democratic Republic of the Congo; capital: Kinshasa).
  3. proper noun Republic of the Congo (a country in Central Africa, smaller and to the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; official name: Republic of the Congo; capital: Brazzaville).
  4. proper noun A region of Central Africa, comprising the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.
  5. proper noun A major river in Central Africa which flows for about 4,380 km (2,720 miles) to the Atlantic Ocean in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, at times forming the border with the Republic of the Congo and Angola.
  6. noun (informal) Congregationalist
  7. proper noun A locality in the Eurobodalla council area, south eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Synonyms

Congo-Kinshasa DR Congo Zaire Congo-Brazzaville Congo Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Belgian Congo Congo River Zaire River Republic of the Congo French Congo congou congou tea English breakfast tea

Etymology

After Kongo, from Kongo nkongo (“hunter”). Compare Kongo dikongo (“spear”), Zulu umkhonto, Proto-Bantu *mʊ̀kóndó.

Clipping of Congregationalist + -o.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Black tea, of higher grade (finer leaf and less dusty) than the present bohea. See Tea.

Etymology [Chin. kung-foo labor.]

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