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

motif

/moʊˈtiːf/ noun

Forms motifs

  1. noun A recurring or dominant element; an artistic theme. “See how the artist repeats the scroll motif throughout the work?”
  2. noun (music) A short melodic or lyrical passage that is repeated in several parts of a work.
  3. noun A decorative figure that is repeated in a design or pattern.
  4. noun (dressmaking) A decorative appliqué design or figure, as of lace or velvet, used in trimming.
  5. noun (crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules.
  6. noun (chess) A basic element of a move in terms of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfilment of a stipulation.
  7. noun (biochemistry) In a nucleotide or aminoacid sequence, pattern that is widespread and has, or is conjectured to have, a biological significance.

Synonyms

motive theme

Etymology

From French motif (1848), with the meaning of "main idea or theme". Doublet of motive.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Motive.

Etymology [F.]

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