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

saddleback

noun, adjective, adverb, verb

Forms saddlebacks saddlebacking saddlebacked

  1. noun A saddle-shaped ridge forming a shallow pass between two peaks.
  2. noun A roof in the same shape, having a gable at each end.
  3. noun (architecture) A coping that is thicker in the middle than at the edges.
  4. noun Any of various creatures having a saddle-shaped marking on the back.
  5. noun A breed of pig which is black with a pink saddle-shaped marking.
  6. noun (geology) An anticline.
  7. noun (UK) A great black-backed gull.
  8. noun (New Zealand) A passerine bird of the genus Philesturnus.
  9. adjective saddle-backed
  10. verb (slang) To engage in anal sex with the intention of preserving one's virginity. (chiefly by Christian teenagers)

Synonyms

saddle gable roof saddle roof saddleback roof

Etymology

From saddle + back.

From Saddleback Church of Lake Forest, California. Coined in a contest held by columnist Dan Savage, in response to its support for California Proposition 8.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Same as Saddle-backed. Saddleback roof. (Arch.) See Saddle roof, under Saddle.
  2. noun Anything saddle-backed; esp., a hill or ridge having a concave outline at the top.
  3. noun (a) The harp seal.

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