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

subliminal

/sʌbˈlɪm.ɪ.nəl/ adjective, noun

Forms subliminals sub-liminal

  1. adjective (physiology) Of a stimulus, below the limen or threshold of conscious perception, especially if still able to produce a response; also (generally), below the threshold where a response can be produced.
  2. adjective (by extension) Of an advertisement, a message, etc.: conveyed in a manner that the viewer is unaware of being influenced by it.
  3. adjective (psychology) Without directed awareness or thought; subconscious (dated), unconscious.
  4. noun (by extension) An advertisement, a message, etc., which is conveyed in a manner that a person is unaware of being influenced by it.
  5. noun (Internet slang) An audio or video recording, often consisting of ambient music or white noise with hidden affirmations, intended to produce physical or psychological changes in the listener through repetition. “She spent all night listening to a subliminal to change her eye color.”
  6. noun (psychology) Chiefly preceded by the: the subconscious (dated) or unconscious self.

Synonyms

latent underthreshold

Antonyms

liminal superliminal

Etymology

From sub- (“beneath, under”) + liminal (“of or pertaining to an entrance or threshold”) (from Latin līminālis, from līmen (“doorstep, threshold; doorway, entrance; beginning, commencement”); possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Heh₃l- (“to bend, bow; elbow”)) + *-mn̥ (suffix forming action nouns or result nouns from verbs)) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns)). The noun is derived from the adjective.
The English word is a borrowing from German subliminal or a calque of German unterschwellig (“subliminal”, literally “beneath the threshold”).

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Existing in the mind, but below the surface or threshold of consciousness; that is, existing as feeling rather than as clear ideas.

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