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

backwater

noun, verb, proper noun

Forms backwaters backwatering backwatered back water back-water

  1. noun The water held back by a dam or other obstruction.
  2. noun (idiomatic, usually figurative) A remote place: somewhere that remains unaffected by new events, progresses, ideas, etc; any field of endeavor that figuratively resembles such a place. “an academic backwater”
  3. noun A rowing stroke in which the oar is pushed forward to stop the boat; see back water
  4. noun (paper industry) Water used in the papermaking process. Recycled to reduce usage of fresh water, and usually containing residual amounts of chemicals and fibres.
  5. verb To row or paddle a backwater stroke.
  6. verb (idiomatic) To vacillate on a long-held position.
  7. proper noun A locality in the Armidale council area, north-eastern New South Wales, Australia.

Synonyms

jerkwater town one-horse town Podunk Isolated town bump in the road jerkwater jerk-water wide spot in the road Isolated place arse end of nowhere back of beyond back forty backcountry backwoods provinces beyond the black stump boondock boondocks boonies bumfuck middle of nowhere

Etymology

From back + water.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Water turned back in its course by an obstruction, an opposing current , or the flow of the tide, as in a sewer or river channel, or across a river bar.
  2. noun An accumulation of water overflowing the low lands, caused by an obstruction.

Etymology [Back, a. or adv. + -ward.]

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