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

bedstraw

UK /ˈbɛd.stɹɔː/ · US /ˈbɛd.stɹɔ/ noun

Forms bedstraws

  1. noun Any plant of herb genus Galium of the madder family with small pointed leaves and hairy stems with small, white or yellow flowers.
  2. noun Any plant of the genus Cruciata.
  3. noun (obsolete) Straw placed into a bed.

Etymology

From Middle English bedstraw, bedstrau, bedde-straw, equivalent to bed + straw.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun Straw put into a bed. Bacon.
  2. noun A genus of slender herbs, usually with square stems, whorled leaves, and small white flowers. Our Lady's bedstraw, which has yellow flowers, is Galium verum.

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