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

simper

UK /ˈsɪmpə/ · US /ˈsɪmpɚ/ verb, noun, proper noun

Forms simpers simpering simpered

  1. verb (intransitive) To smile in a foolish, frivolous, self-conscious, coy, obsequious, or smug manner.
  2. verb (obsolete) To glimmer; to twinkle.
  3. noun A foolish, frivolous, self-conscious, or affected smile; a smirk.
  4. proper noun A surname.

Synonyms

smirk

Etymology

Uncertain; compare (probably from) Danish simper / semper (“coy”), German zimper (“elegant, dainty”).

Variant of Semper.

Webster’s 1913

  1. verb To smile in a silly, affected, or conceited manner.
  2. verb To glimmer; to twinkle. [Obs.]
  3. noun A constrained, self-conscious smile; an affected, silly smile; a smirk.

Etymology [Cf. Norw. semper fine, smart, dial. Dan. semper, simper, affected, coy, prudish, OSw. semper one who affectedly refrains from eating, Sw. sipp finical, prim, LG. sipp.]

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