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

croon

UK /kɹuːn/ · US /kɹun/ verb, noun

Forms croons crooning crooned croonest croonedst crooneth

  1. verb To hum or sing (a song or tune), or to speak (words), softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing (a popular song) in a low, mellow voice. “He was crooning a song.”
  2. verb To soothe (a person or an animal) by singing softly.
  3. verb To hum or sing, or to speak, softly in a low pitch or in a sentimental manner; specifically, to sing a popular song in a low, mellow voice. “She was crooning, but I couldn’t make out what the song was.”
  4. verb (Northern England, Scotland) To lament, to moan.
  5. verb (Northern England, Scotland) To make a continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; to bellow, to low.
  6. verb (Northern England, Scotland) Of a large bell: to make a low-pitched sound.
  7. noun A soft, low-pitched sound; specifically, a soft or sentimental hum, song, or tune.
  8. noun (Northern England, Scotland) A continuous hollow low-pitched moan, as of cattle; a bellow.
  9. noun (Northern England, Scotland) The low-pitched sound of a large bell.

Synonyms

coo

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from Scots croon (“to utter a deep, long-drawn-out sound; to utter a lament, mourn; to sing in a wailing voice, whimper, whine; to mutter or sing in an undertone, hum”) [and other forms], from Middle English cronen (“to sing or speak softly, hum, croon”) (croyn (Scotland)) [and other forms], probably from Middle Dutch crônen, krônen (“to groan, moan; to lament”) (modern Dutch kreunen (“to moan”)), or Old High German chrônan, krônen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), probably from Proto-West Germanic *kraunijan, from Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).
The noun is partly:
* borrowed from Scots croon (“a lament, wail; mournful song; low murmuring tune; (obsolete) long-drawn-out sound”), from croon (verb): see above; and
* derived from the verb.
* Middle Dutch krônen (modern Dutch kreunen (“to groan, moan; to lament”))
* Middle Low German kroenen (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”), kronen (“to growl; to grumble; to scold”)
* Old High German chrônan, chrônnan (“to babble, prattle; to chatter”)
* Saterland Frisian krȫnen (“to cause to weep”)

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.
  2. verb To hum or sing in a low tone; to murmur softly.
  3. verb To sing in a low tone, as if to one's self; to hum. Hearing such stanzas crooned in her praise. C. Bront
  4. verb To soothe by singing softly.

Etymology [OE. croinen, cf. D. kreunen to moan. 1. To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain. [Scot.]

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