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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Results for “Abyssin”
- Abyssinia proper noun, adjective, interjection(historical) Former name of Ethiopia: a country and former empire in East Africa; used as an exonym until the mid 20th century.
- Abyssinian adjective, noun, proper noun(dated) Of or pertaining to Ethiopia or its inhabitants; Ethiopian.
- Abyssinian cat nounA domestic breed of cat with long ears, short hair and a black stripe along the spine.
- Abyssinian banana nounA banana plant, Ensete ventricosum, with inedible fruit and edible flower stalks; ensete.
- aby verb, proper noun, noun(archaic) To pay the penalty for (something); to atone for, to make amends.
- Arabian tea nounSynonym of Abyssinian tea.
- blackseed nounNigella, black cumin (Nigella sativa), a spice plant with aromatic black seeds,.
- Ethiopia proper nounA country in East Africa.
- flame tree nounAny tree or shrub with yellow or bright red flowers from several species including:
- guereza noun(zoology) A reddish-brown colobus monkey from Abyssinia.
- madoqua noun(zoology, obsolete) A small Abyssinian antelope, Salt's dik-dik (Madoqua saltiana)
- mocha noun, adjective, proper noun(countable) A coffee drink with chocolate syrup added, or a serving thereof.
- negus noun, proper nounA drink made of wine, often port, mixed with hot water, oranges or lemons, spices and sugar.
- Niger proper noun, nounA country in West Africa, situated to the north of Nigeria. Official name: Republic of the Niger.
- Somali proper noun, noun, adjective(uncountable) A Cushitic language spoken mainly in Somalia, eastern Ethiopia, Djibouti, and eastern Kenya.
- yaltopya nounEthiopia is a republic in northeastern Africa on the Red Sea; formerly called Abyssinia