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

birdie

UK /ˈbɜː.di/ · US /ˈbɝ.di/ noun, verb, proper noun

Forms birdies birdieing birdying birdied birdy

  1. noun (often childish) A bird; especially, a small and cute one. “Aw, that's a cute little birdie. Is it a budgie?”
  2. noun (golf) The completion of a hole one stroke below par. “He scored ten birdies during the tournament.”
  3. noun (badminton) A shuttlecock.
  4. noun (Philippines, slang) A penis.
  5. noun (electronics) An electromagnetic signal generated from within an electronic device.
  6. noun (usually preceded by "the") A certain rude gesture in some countries, formed with the middle finger.
  7. noun (usually preceded by "the") A certain rude gesture in some countries, formed with the middle and index fingers.
  8. verb (intransitive, golf) To score a birdie. “Sörenstam birdied to take the lead.”
  9. verb (transitive, golf) To score a birdie at (a hole). “Sörenstam birdied the seventeenth hole to take the lead.”
  10. proper noun A female given name from English.
  11. proper noun (childish) A name for any (small) bird. (1999: Oxford Dictionary of Slang, p. 130)

Synonyms

birdlet birdling birb cocky anaconda baloney pony bald-headed hermit banana bird bobby boonga cack choad choda chode chopper cigar cock corey crank shuttlecock shuttle

Etymology

From bird + -ie.

From birdie (“little bird”). Also used as a diminutive of Bertha.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun A pretty or dear little bird; --a pet name. Tennyson.

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “birdie”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details