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

tarmac

/ˈtɑː(ɹ)mæk/ noun, verb

Forms tarmacs tarmacking tarmacing tarmaccing tarmacked tarmaced tarmacced

  1. noun Tarmacadam.
  2. noun (loosely, UK, Ireland, Canada) Any bituminous road surfacing material.
  3. noun (UK, Ireland, Canada) The driveable surface of a road.
  4. noun (informal, aviation) The area of an airport, other than the runway, where planes park or maneuver.
  5. verb (UK, Canada) To pave with tarmacadam or a similar material.
  6. verb (aviation) To spend time idling on a runway, usually waiting for takeoff clearance.

Synonyms

asphalt tarmacadam macadam macadamize macadamise

Etymology

Clipping of tarmacadam, which is from tar + macadam (“crushed stones”). Originally a trademark owned by its inventor, Edgar Hooley.

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