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

townie

/ˈtaʊni/ noun

Forms townies townee

  1. noun (UK, US) A person living in a university area who is not associated with the university.
  2. noun (UK) A person who has moved from a town or city to a rural area. Especially, one who is perceived not to have adopted rural ways.
  3. noun (UK) A person familiar with the town (urbanised centre of a city) and with going out on the town; a street-wise person.
  4. noun (UK, derogatory) A chav.
  5. noun (US) A working-class citizen in a metropolitan area.
  6. noun (UK, Australia, New Zealand, informal) A person who lives in a city or town, or has an urban outlook.
  7. noun (Lewis) A person from Stornoway.
  8. noun A person from Charlestown, Massachusetts, (especially) a working-class person of Irish American heritage.

Synonyms

synonyms at chav townlet towny

Antonyms

maw cocky ()

Etymology

From town + -ie (“person associated”).

From town + -ie (diminutive suffix).

From (Charles)town + -ie.

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