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

sough

/saʊ/ verb, noun, proper noun

Forms soughs soughing soughed

  1. verb To make a soft rustling or murmuring sound.
  2. noun A murmuring sound; rushing, rustling, or whistling sound.
  3. noun A gentle breeze; a waft; a breath.
  4. noun A (deep) sigh.
  5. noun (Scotland, obsolete) A vague rumour.
  6. noun (Scotland, obsolete) A cant or whining mode of speaking, especially in preaching or praying.
  7. noun A small drain; an adit.
  8. verb To drain.
  9. proper noun A hamlet in Kelbrook and Sough parish, Pendle borough, Lancashire, England (OS grid ref SD9045).

Synonyms

breathe moan murmur purl rustle sigh susurrate swish swough whisper whoosh

Antonyms

blare boom clang peal roar thunder

Etymology

From Middle English *sough, swough, swogh, from Middle English swoȝen, swowen, from Old English swōgan (“to make a sound; move with noise; rush; roar”), from Proto-West Germanic *swōgan, from Proto-Germanic *swōganą from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂gʰ-, same source as English echo (via Ancient Greek). Cognate with Scots souch (“sough”), Icelandic súgur (“a rushing sound, rustle”). Noun replaced Middle English swei, sweȝ from Old English swēg. More at swoon.

From Middle English sough (whence also Scots sheuch (“ditch”)), from Old English *sōh, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *sīk (“watercourse”); compare dialectal Dutch zoeg (“ditch”), and English sitch.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A sow. [Obs.] Chaucer.
  2. noun A small drain; an adit. [Prov. Eng.] W. M. Buchanan.
  3. noun The sound produced by soughing; a hollow murmur or roaring.
  4. noun Hence, a vague rumor or flying report. [Scot.]

Etymology [Etymol. uncertain.]

Etymology [Cf. Icel. s (in comp.) a rushing sound, or OE. swough, swogh, a sound, AS. sw to rustle. Cf. Surf, Swoon, v. i.]

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