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Regular Past Pronunciation Regularised

Regular past tense and part participle forms may not be as straightforward as they seem. So, you’ve understood that you just add the suffix -ed and do some adjustments to the spelling at times, but it doesn’t finish there. Now it’s time to say them.

 

When pronouncing these regular words it is not a matter of just adding a non-changeable sound segment, represented as -ed in orthography, to the root word. What I am saying is that you don’t just say ‘play’ and then say ‘-ed’, nor do you say ‘talk’ and then say ‘-ed’ afterwards as if they were separate words. When these morphemes combine they accommodate each other according to their sound qualities. This is done systematically—it is not ad hoc.

 

My hope is that the above visual encapsulates the phonological rule involved in this union.

 

Where do you need help in pronouncing English words?

 

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