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

nicety

/ˈnaɪsɪti/ noun, adjective

Forms niceties

  1. noun A small detail or distinction. “We met the new captain while we were taking enemy fire and were unable to observe the niceties of formal introductions.”
  2. noun Subtlety or precision of use; exactness; preciseness. “A rocket-propelled grenade doesn't have the nicety of a sniper round, but you must admit its effectiveness.”
  3. noun A delicacy of character or feeling usually from excessive refinement; fastidiousness.
  4. noun Synonym of social nicety.
  5. noun (obsolete) That which is delicate to the taste.
  6. adjective Behaving in an unpleasant or spiteful way that is seemingly, or perceived as, pleasant or agreeable.

Synonyms

social nicety justness rightness nuance shade subtlety refinement

Etymology

From Middle English nicetee, from Old French niceté (“simpleness, foolishness”), from nice (“simple, foolish”); equivalent to nice + -e- + -ty.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun The quality or state of being nice (in any of the senses of that word.).
  2. noun Delicacy or exactness of perception; minuteness of observation or of discrimination; precision.

Etymology [OE. niceté foolishness.]

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