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English Pronunciation - why are some English words like washed only one syllable and others like hunted two?

I love ESL - 2007-12-03 09:38:06 - Words Wordplay

I am an tutor of ESL . My student asked me if there are any rules governing when a word ending in -ed is one syllable (washed) and.when it is two syllable (hunted), I don't know of any and haven't been able to find any. I'm not an English teacher by profession. Are there any English teachers or experts out there who can help me? Thanks.

Best Answer:

You will find no rules to help your student. The explanation is historical and not logical. You must learn one word at a time. A complication is that British and American English can differ on this point. But if you look at your example, there may be a phonetic reason. How is it possible to say HUNTED using only one syllable? Note too that poetry frequently uses two syllables in such words whereas the modern spoken and language do not. Look at the Beatitudes: Blessed be the poor--two syllables.

Answers:

That's just the way it is..

You will find no rules to help your student. The explanation is historical and not logical. You must learn one word at a time. A complication is that British and American English can differ on this point. But if you look at your example, there may be a phonetic reason. How is it possible to say HUNTED using only one syllable? Note too that poetry frequently uses two syllables in such words whereas the modern spoken and language do not. Look at the Beatitudes: Blessed be the poor--two syllables.

When the verb ends in d or t, it becomes 2-syllables when 'ed' is added as the suffix. Verbs ending with all other letters remain 1-syllable. The reason is that the verbs ending with 'd' or 't', being sounds formed mainly using the tongue, cannot remain as one syllable when followed immediately by another similar 'd' sound. So the 'e' in words like 'wanted' and 'handed' needs to be sounded, to give the word clarity. But in words like 'jumped' and 'failed', the 'e' doesn't need to be sounded, because the word remains clear as one syllable.

I always wanted to know if 'ism' was one syllable or two.

Basically, the 'e' in an "ed" ending is not pronounced. The exception is if the root word already ends in a 'd' or 't'. The reason is that, if one doesn't pronounce the 'e', one cannot differentiate between the present and past tense. If one does not pronounce the 'e' in hunted, the word becomes hunt'd, which is indistinguishable from hunt. But one CAN simply slide a d at the end of washed (pronounced "wash'd") and hear the difference. In olden times, the 'e' was sometimes pronounced, usually in poetry to make the meter work. If this was specifically required, the letter would be written with a grave accent, as washèd.

It's just evolution, which happens in all languages. "Washed" (and other words like it) was originally two syllables, but over time, pronunciation of the "e" has been dropped. English has come a long way since the Saxons! Incidentally, in some parts of England, they pronounce the "d" in "washed" like a "d", and not a "t". Neither is wrong, it just depends where you live.

Rowdy - not 'some' parts of England. All parts that speak using British English pronunciation.