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

polka

UK /ˈpɒl.kə/ · US /ˈpoʊ(l)kə/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms polkas polkaing polkaed

  1. noun A lively dance originating in Bohemia.
  2. noun The music for this dance.
  3. noun A polka jacket.
  4. verb (intransitive) To dance the polka.
  5. proper noun A surname.

Etymology

Via French and German from Czech polka, variant of půlka (“half”) as in "half-step"; see půl (“half”).

Borrowed from Czech, Slovak and Polish Polka.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A dance of Polish origin, but now common everywhere. It is performed by two persons in common time.
  2. noun A lively Bohemian or Polish dance tune in 2-4 measure, with the third quaver accented. Polka jacket, a kind of knit jacket worn by women.

Etymology [Pol. Polka a Polish woman: cf. F. & G. polka.]

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