Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iː	see	ɪ	sit	e / ɛ	bed	æ	cat
ɑː	father	ɒ	hot (UK)	ɔː	law	ʊ	put
uː	too	ʌ	cup	ɜː	bird	ə	about
eɪ	day	aɪ	my	ɔɪ	boy	aʊ	now
əʊ / oʊ	go (UK / US)	ɪə	near	eə	hair	ʊə	tour

Consonants that look unusual

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

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.

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Syria

/ˈsɪɹi.ə/ proper noun

proper noun A country in West Asia in the Middle East. Official name: Syrian Arab Republic. Capital: Damascus.
proper noun (historical) A historical region of West Asia, extending from modern-day southeast Turkey to the north, the Euphrates and Arabian Desert to the east, the Sinai Peninsula to the south, and the Mediterranean sea to the west.
proper noun (historical) An ancient Roman province between 64 BCE and 198 CE.

Synonyms

Greater Syria Levant Syria-Palestine Syrian Arab Republic

Etymology

From Middle English Sirie, from Latin Sȳria, from Ancient Greek Σῠρῐ́ᾱ (Sŭrĭ́ā), apheretic form of Ἀσσυρία (Assuría, “Assyria”), from Akkadian 𒀾𒋗𒊏𒅀 (Aššūrāyu), from 𒀸𒋩 (Aššur, “Assur”).
The land corresponding to modern Syria was originally called Aram by its ancient inhabitants, the Arameans. After the Assyrian conquest of Aram, the Greeks applied the name Syria to this territory. Over time, Syria came to denote the broader Levant, while Assyria referred to Mesopotamia. Herodotus (5th century BCE) was among the earliest Greek authors to consistently distinguish Syria and Assyria. After his time, some classical writers occasionally blurred the distinction. Nevertheless, educated writers and administrative usage gradually preserved the distinction, with Syria referring to the Levant and Assyria to Mesopotamia.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “Syria”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details