II Pronunciation of Final "-ed"

Comment on source: http://www.shertonenglish.com/resources/es/pronunciation/pronunciation-ed.php

Spanish students find it hard to work out how to prounce final -ed in verbs and adjetives. Below is a pdf file that shows the LETTERS after which you should prounce each sound, namely /d/, /t/ and /-id/. One has to be very much aware of the fact that anything written between / and / is a SOUND, never a letter. The pdf file has a GRAPHIC approach rather than a PHONETIC one (which is the one that I find most helpful). The graphic approach focuses on the actual letters that we READ, not PRONOUNCE. We only have to memorise the letters... that´s it, mission accomplished.

On the other hand the PHONETIC approach seeks to make the student of English aware of the basic difference between "voiced" sounds and "unvoiced" sound. This distinction is VITAL to get the pronounciation right.

1. In the first place: after voicless sounds, "-ed" is pronounced /t/, as in "asked" /askt/.
2. Secondly, after voiced sounds, "-ed" is pronounced /d/ as in "called" /kɔːld/.
3. Finally, after sounds /t/ and /d/, "-ed" is pronounced /-ɪd/. Examples: "want" /'wɒnt /> "wanted" /ˈwɒntɪd/, "land" /lænd / > "landed" /ˈlændɪd/

It is essential to understand that "sounds" are NOT "letters". I cannot stress this enough. This is particularly important for English, since what we READ does NOT MATCH what we PRONOUNCE. The first approach (GRAPHIC) mentioned above poses problems that may lead to confussion.

Take for example the word "laugh". Now, it is important to KNOW that this word is actually pronounced /láf/. The advantage of the PHONETIC approach is that we KNOW that /f/ is a voiceless sound and is followed by "-ed" /t/, therefore "laughed" is pronouned /láft/. HOWEVER we can see the letter "f" ANYWHERE.

Also, when the pdf talks about "endings", what about words like the following...

• "combine"
• "fade"
• "glide"
• "side"
• "trade"
• etc.

These words (just to mention a few) do NOT end in consonant. All of them have a vowel at the end. Again, the WRITTEN and SPOKEN levels contradict each other. We need to understand that it is SOUNDS which matter in English, so "trade" /'treɪd/ ends in /d/ and according to the rule, it should be pronounced "-ed" /ɪd/ ("traded" /'treɪdɪd/)

See you soon.

For further practice I recommend that you have a look at the following link and start practising: 

http://www.manythings.org/b/e/4365/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/pronunciation