Digestive Diseases Dictionary
Some terms listed have many meanings; only those meanings that relate to digestion or digestive diseases are included. Words that appear in bold italic are listed elsewhere in the dictionary.
Information in this dictionary is not a substitute for a visit to your doctor. Talk with a health professional if you have a digestive problem.
The U.S. Government does not endorse or favor any specific commercial product or company. Trade, proprietary, or company names appearing in this document are used only because they are considered necessary in the context of the information provided. If a product is not mentioned, the omission does not mean or imply that the product is unsatisfactory.
Pronunciation Guide
This pronunciation guide uses letters and letter combinations, rather than phonetic symbols, to stand for the various sounds in the English language.
Vowels |
||
| a | cat, bat | |
| ah | father | |
| air | pear, hair | |
| ar | park | |
| ay | say, came, weigh | |
| aw | saw, bought | |
| e | bet, set | |
| eh | (used at the end of a syllable or when standing alone) examples: meadow (MEH-doh) enemy (EH-nuh-mee) but diet (DY-et) |
|
| ee | feet, neat | |
| i | sit, igloo | |
| ih | (used at the end of a syllable or when standing alone) examples: chicken (CHIH-ken) miracle (MIHR-ih-kuhl) but picnic (PIK-nik) |
|
| ihr | near, here | |
| y | fire, idol | |
| eye | (used at the beginning of a syllable or when standing alone) examples: iron (EYE-urn) chloride (KLOR-eyed) but silent (SY-luhnt) |
|
| o | hot, cot | |
| oh | coat, home | |
| oo | food, rude | |
| or | tore, soar, for | |
| oy | soil, boy | |
| ou | now, couch | |
| u | put, foot | |
| uh | about, sum, china | |
| ur | hurt, alert | |
| yoo | use | |
| yoor | cure | |
Consonants |
||
| b | bat, job | |
| ch | chop, itch | |
| d | dig, bed | |
| f | fur, tough, calf | |
| g | grape, big | |
| h | happy | |
| j | joke, nudge | |
| k | kite, car, tack | |
| l | lip, sell | |
| m | move, jam | |
| n | not, knee | |
| ng | ring | |
| p | play, hop | |
| r | rain, fur | |
| s | set, tips | |
| ss | bus, guess, fence | |
| sh | shy, fish | |
| t | toy, boat | |
| th | breath | |
| v | vine, have | |
| w | walk, where | |
| y | yes | |
| z | zip, jazz, has | |
| zh | measure | |
NIH Publication No. 09–2750
March 2009
