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

pygmy

/ˈpɪɡmi/ noun, adjective

Forms pygmies pigmy

  1. noun (mythology, folklore) A member of various legendary races of dwarfs, or supernatural peoples of diminutive stature.
  2. noun (often capitalized, dated, proscribed) A member of one of various tribal peoples of the Congo Basin in equatorial Africa, notable for their very short stature.
  3. noun (often capitalized, dated, proscribed) Also applied to various other peoples of short stature.
  4. noun (figuratively, derogatory, offensive) Any dwarfish person or thing; a disparaging term for a small person.
  5. noun (figuratively, derogatory, offensive) An insignificant person, at least in some respect.
  6. adjective Relating or belonging to the Pygmy people.
  7. adjective Unusually short or small for its kind, especially in the names of animals and plants.

Synonyms

dwarf midget pygmean pygmyish dwarfish pigmy

Antonyms

giant ettin

Etymology

From Latin Pygmaeī, from Ancient Greek πυγμαῖος (pugmaîos, “a member of a legendary race of dwarves”), from πυγμή (pugmḗ, “fist (as small as a fist)”). In Ancient Greek, first mentioned by Homer; only applied to actual human races in the 19th century.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Of or pertaining to a pygmy; resembling a pygmy or dwarf; dwarfish; very small. " Like that Pygmean race." Milton. Pygmy antelope (Zoöl.), the kleeneboc.
  2. noun One of a fabulous race of dwarfs who waged war with the cranes, and were destroyed.
  3. noun Hence, a short, insignificant person; a dwarf.

Etymology [L. pygmaeus. See Pygmy.]

Etymology [L. pygmaeus, Gr. Pugnacious, Fist.]

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