Pronunciation. Is there a pattern to 'ed' and 's' endings?

Question

'ed' and 's' endings can be pronounced three ways. 'ed' can be pronounced with the final sound /t/ faced, pushed, experienced; /d/ believed, planned, saved; and /Id/ noted, treated, supported. the 's' endings are /s/ remarks, characteristics, sports; /z/ rays, layers, claws; and /Iz/ languages, voices, images. Without knowing how the word is pronounced in advance, is there a pattern to distinguish which end sound we should use?

Answer 1

Actually, it is fairly consistent. Cindy is moving very much in the right direction.

It works like this -

The /d/ and /z/ sounds are the same as /t/ and /s/ but with the VOICE added. These sounds are called "voiced" as opposed to the "voiceless" /t/ and /s/ sounds.

Whether a final -ed or -s is 'voiced' or 'voiceless' is based on the sound coming just before it. (Note NOT the 'letter' coming before, since letters may be silent) If the preceding SOUND is "voiced" so is the ending; if it is voicless, the ending is as well.

a) "VOICED" sounds in English = ALL vowel sounds (whether they are written out or not), and the following consonants and consonant combinations:
b, d, g, j, l,m,n, ng, r, v, z, and "th" in words like "bathe"

b) "VOICELESS" = f, k, p, s, sh, ch, t, x and "th" in words like "bath"


Finally, if a word ends with -es or -ed AFTER a related sound, making it difficult to pronounce the two consonant sounds together, the e is pronounced and, since this is a VOWEL ("voiced") the final s or d is also "voiced" (/ed/ or /ez/).

Specifically -

If the root ends with a "sibilant", that is, and s-type sound, add /ez/
dresses, ashes, buzzes,
churches (note that "ch" is actually the sounds /t/ + /sh/ together),
ages (this g, sounding like j, is the voiced equivalent of "ch" -- /d/ + /zh/ [voiced sh, same sound as the z in "azure"]),
foxes (x is the combination of /k/ and /s/)

If the root ends with a /t/ or /d/ sound the -ed ending is pronounced /ed/ - hated, spotted, waded

Answer 2

-ed
The /d/ and /t/ sounds should be the same, they should all be /d/, people just get sloppy.
The ones where you actually pronounce the -ed as a separate syllable, there's no way you couldn't. You'll notice in the examples you gave, that the root words (without the -ed) end with "t", so it'd be a good guess that when the words end with "-ted" that they're pronounced that way. Or -ded, like "added" or "faded". Otherwise, the -ed doesn't add an extra syllable.
-s
Again, the /z/ and the /s/ are basically the same. And, again, you only say the ending as a separate syllable when there's no way not to... I don't know of a more official or clear way to explain that... In the examples you gave, and I think in general, if it ends with "-es," then it's an extra sllyable, otherwise it's -s as an s/z sound.

Answer 3

Well, the English language never has hard and fast rules but in general I believe that ed is pronounced as /t/ and s is pronounced as /s/ when they follow voiceless sounds (look at the last consonant and feel your throat as you say it -- if you feel a "buzz" is voiced (z, d, v, n, b, etc.), if you don't feel a "buzz" its voiceless (s, t, p, etc.)). If the sound is voiced then ed is pronounced /d/ and the s like a /z/. As far as ed sounding like /id/ and s sounding like /is/ my guess would be if the ed and/or s is added to a word ending in an e and or ends one of the previous mentioned sounds (/t/, /d/ or /s/, /z/) it is stated as an /id/ or /is/ (almost like another syllable). But remember, there are never any hard and fast rules in the English language so you'll be able to come up with exceptions, I'm sure. Confusing??, you bet! Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Adding -s (ss sound) -c, f, k, p, t
All others -z sound
Adding -ed (d sound) b, e, g, l, m, n, o, r, s (when it has z sound), v, w, x, y, z
(id sound) -d, t
(t sound) -c/k, f, s (when it has ss sound)