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

maypole

/ˈmeɪˌpoʊl/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms maypoles maypoling maypoled may-pole

  1. noun A pole, garlanded with streamers held by people who dance around it to celebrate May Day. “How would you like the maypole decorated?”
  2. noun (idiomatic) A very tall girl or young lady.
  3. noun (ornithology) A maypole-like structure of sticks placed about a sapling in the bowers of certain species of bowerbird.
  4. noun (euphemistic) A penis, especially a large one.
  5. verb To dance or spin in a circle around something.
  6. proper noun A surname.
  7. proper noun A settlement on St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall (OS grid ref SV9211).
  8. proper noun A settlement near the village of Chelsfield, borough of Bromley, Greater London (OS grid ref TQ4963).
  9. proper noun A village in Dartford borough, Kent (OS grid ref TQ5173).
  10. proper noun A settlement in Hoath parish, Canterbury district, Kent (OS grid ref TR2064).
  11. proper noun A settlement in Whitecastle community, Monmouthshire, Wales (OS grid ref SO4716).

Etymology

Compound of May + pole, so called in reference to its use on May Day.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A tall pole erected in an open place and wreathed with flowers, about which the rustic May-day sports were had.

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