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

palaver

/pəˈlɑː.və(ɹ)/ noun, verb

Forms palavers palavering palavered

  1. noun (Africa) A village council meeting.
  2. noun (Canada, US, archaic in Britain) Talk, especially unnecessary talk; chatter. [from 18th c.]
  3. noun (UK) Mentally draining activity, either physical or fuss. “What a palaver!”
  4. noun A meeting at which there is much talk; a debate; a moot.
  5. noun (informal) Disagreement. “I have no palaver with him.”
  6. noun Talk intended to deceive. [from 19th c.]
  7. verb (intransitive) To discuss with much talk.
  8. verb (transitive) To flatter.

Synonyms

hot air babble bavardage bibble-babble blab blabber blabbing blather blathering chatter chinwag chit-chat claver clepe gabble mardle natter prate prattle scuttlebutt blandishment cajolery empty words empty talk rhetoric piffle tittle-tattle twaddle clack maunder

Etymology

Originally nautical slang, from Portuguese palavra (“word”), from Late Latin parabola (“parable, speech”). The term's use (especially in Africa) mimics the evolution of the word moot. As such, for sense development, see moot. Doublet of parable, parole, and parabola.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Talk; conversation; esp., idle or beguiling talk; talk intended to deceive; flattery.
  2. noun In Africa, a parley with the natives; a talk; hence, a public conference and deliberation; a debate.
  3. verb To make palaver with, or to; to used palaver;to talk idly or deceitfully; to employ flattery; to cajole; as, to palaver artfully.

Etymology [Sp. palabra, or Pg. palavra, fr. L. parabola a comparison, a parable, LL., a word. See Parable.]

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