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

doldrums

UK /ˈdɒldɹəmz/ · US /ˈdɑldɹəmz/ noun

  1. noun Usually preceded by the: a state of apathy or lack of interest; a situation where one feels boredom, ennui, or tedium; a state of listlessness or malaise. “I was in the doldrums yesterday and just didn’t feel inspired.”
  2. noun (nautical) Usually preceded by the: the state of a sailing ship when it is impeded by calms or light, baffling winds, and is unable to make progress.
  3. noun (nautical, oceanography, by extension) Usually preceded by the: a part of the ocean near the equator where calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds are common.

Synonyms

dumps calms intertropical convergence zone stagnation stagnancy

Etymology

From obsolete doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”) plus the plural suffix -s. Doldrum is possibly derived from dull or Middle English dold (past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make or become blunt or dull; to make or become dull-witted or stupid; to make or become inactive”), from dul, dol, dolle (“not sharp, blunt, dull; not quick-witted, stupid; lethargic, sluggish”); see further at dull), modelled after tantrum.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A part of the ocean near the equator, abounding in calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds, which sometimes prevent all progress for weeks; --so called by sailors. To be in the doldrums, to be in a state of listlessness ennui, or tedium.

Etymology [Cf. Gael. doltrum grief, vexation]

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