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

Australia

/ɒˈstɹeɪ.liː.ə/ proper noun

Forms Straya 'Straya

  1. proper noun An island of Oceania.
  2. proper noun A country consisting of a main island, the island of Tasmania and other smaller islands, located in Oceania; historically, a collection of former colonies of the British Empire. Official name: Commonwealth of Australia. Capital: Canberra.
  3. proper noun (geology) A continent consisting of the land on the Australian tectonic plate, i.e. Australia, New Guinea and intervening islands. “He is going to Australia for his honeymoon for 10 days.”

Synonyms

Aussie Aussieland land down under New Holland Oz Terra Australis Upsidedownland Stralia Straya Meganesia Sahul Oceania Commonwealth of Australia

Etymology

First attested 16th century, from Latin terra austrālis incōgnita (“unknown southern land”), from auster (“the south wind”). Used also in 1693 (quotation below). Popularised by Matthew Flinders in 1814 (quotation below). By surface analysis, Austral- + -ia.
Distantly cognate to Austria, containing the same Proto-Indo-European root, but through German where it retained the earlier sense of “east” rather than “south”.
See also Terra Australis.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Australia”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details