Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

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)

-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.

encumber

/ɪnˈkʌmbə(ɹ)/ verb

Forms encumbers encumbering encumbered incumber

verb (transitive) To load down something with a burden.
verb (transitive) To restrict or block something with a hindrance or impediment.
verb (transitive) To burden with a legal claim or other obligation.

Synonyms

From Middle English encombren, from Old French encombrer, from en- + combrer (“to hinder”) (See cumber). By surface analysis, en- + cumber.

verb To impede the motion or action of, as with a burden; to retard with something superfluous; to weigh down; to obstruct or embarrass; as, his movements were encumbered by his mantle; his mind is encumbered with useless learning.
verb To load with debts, or other legal claims; as, to encumber an estate with mortgages.

Etymology [F. encombrer; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. combrer to hinder. See Cumber, and cf. Incumber.]

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