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

swither

/ˈswɪðə/ verb, noun

Forms swithers swithering swithered swether swidder

  1. verb (dialectal) To burn, scorch, singe.
  2. verb (dialectal) To burn slowly, melt (as a candle), sweal
  3. verb (dialectal, figurative) To smart, ache; tingle
  4. noun (dialectal) A great heat; a scorching, singeing
  5. noun (dialectal) Sweating.
  6. verb (Scotland, Northern England) To be indecisive or in a state of confusion; to dither.
  7. verb To move or swing about.
  8. noun (chiefly Scotland, Northern England) A state of indecision or confusion; a panicked state; a flap, fluster, or dither.

Synonyms

fret stew sweat lather

Etymology

From Middle English *swithren, from Old Norse sviðra (“to burn, singe”). Related to Middle English swithen (“to burn, scorch, singe”), from Old Norse svíða (“to burn”).

First attested in 1501; of unknown origin.

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