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

sombre

UK /ˈsɒmbə/ · US /ˈsɑmbɚ/ adjective, noun, verb

Forms sombrer sombrest sombres sombring sombred somber

  1. adjective Dark; gloomy; shadowy, dimly lit.
  2. adjective Dull or dark in colour or brightness.
  3. adjective Melancholic, gloomy, dreary, dismal; grim.
  4. adjective Grave; extremely serious. “a sombre situation”
  5. noun (obsolete) Gloom; obscurity; duskiness.
  6. verb To make sombre or dark; to make shady.

Synonyms

bleak dreary cheerless comfortless dark morose depressing desolate dire disconsolate dismal doleful dolesome drear drearisome dreich forlorn gayless gray gloomsome drab sober somber melancholy

Etymology

Borrowed from French sombre (“dark”), from Old French sombre, from a verb *sombrer or Latin sub- + umbra. Compare Spanish sombra (“shade; dark part of a picture; ghost”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Dull; dusky; somewhat dark; gloomy; as, a somber forest; a somber house.
  2. adjective Melancholy; sad; grave; depressing; as, a somber person; somber reflections.
  3. verb To make somber, or dark; to make shady. [R.]
  4. noun Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness. [Obs.]

Etymology [F. sombre; cf. Sp. sombra, shade, prob. from LL. subumbrare to put in the shade; L. sub under + umbra shade. See Umbrage.]

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