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

kerchief

UK /ˈkɜː.tʃɪf/ · US /ˈkɝ.t͡ʃɪf/ noun, verb

Forms kerchiefs kerchieves kerchiefing kerchiefed

  1. noun (dated) A piece of cloth used to cover the head; a bandana.
  2. verb (dated, transitive) To cover with a kerchief.

Etymology

From Middle English keverchef, coverchef et al., from Old French couvrechief, from couvrir (“to cover”) + chief (“head”). Compare curfew.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A square of fine linen worn by women as a covering for the head; hence, anything similar in form or material, worn for ornament on other parts of the person; --mostly used in compounds; as, neckerchief; breastkerchief; and later, handkerchief.
  2. noun A lady who wears a kerchief. Dryden.

Etymology [OE. coverchef, OF. cuevrechief, couvrechef, F. couvrechef, a head covering, fr. couvrir to cover + OF. chief head, F. chef. See Cover, Chief, and cf. Curfew.]

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