pronunciation ...
Many adjectives, particularly those that are based on regular verbs, end
in a “-ed”; and when that is the case, we pronounce them as if the “e”
wasn’t there. For example:
bored, cooked, buttered, washed, dialled, delayed, packed
(bor’d)
(cook’d)
(butter’d)
(wash’d)
(dial’d)
(delay’d)
(pack’d)
... unless the word root ends in a “d” or a “t”. Here, the “-ed” is spoken
as a syllable of its own – simply for cosmetic reasons.
crowded, toasted, recreated, branded, dented, faded
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There are a number of adjectives, however, whose word roots do not
end in “d” or “t” and where the “-ed” is nonetheless pronounced
separately. Don’t ask why – it’s just the way it is. Here’s a list of the
most common ones, together with their German translations:
beloved (pron.: bee-LUV-ved, based on the verb “to love” = “lieben”)
• German: geliebt, heißgeliebt, beliebt
• “King Louis XIV was just receiving his beloved after-dinner enema when he
heard the good news from New France.” (enema = Klistier)
blessed (pron.: BLESS-sed; based on the verb “to bless” = “segnen”)
• German: gesegnet
• “Fort Ville-Marie, the later city of Montréal, was named after the Blessed
Virgin by the French aristocrat Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve.”
jagged (pron.: JAGG-ged; based on the verb “to jag” = “auszacken”)
• German: gezackt, zerklüftet
• “Leif Eiriksson arrived on the jagged coastline of Newfoundland Island in the
year 1000 and was thus the first European to set foot on American soil.
Technically, however, Greenland also belongs to the American continent, and
therefore Leif’s father, Eirik the Red, who discovered Greenland eighteen years
earlier, actually deserves the credit.”
rugged (pron.: RUGG-ged; based on the ME adj. “rug”, meaning “shaggy”/”rough” = “zottelig”/”grob”)
• German: grob, zerklüftet, wild
• “The rugged terrain of Newfoundland did not allow for the development of
agriculture among the native population, as did the fertile lands in the valley of
the St. Lawrence River and in the Great Lakes region.”
crooked (pron.: KROOK-ked; based on the noun “crook” = “Beuge”/ “Krümmung”)
• German: krumm, schief, gewunden
• “The crooked Rivière Saint-Charles springs from Lac Saint-Charles and
slowly meanders its way through the landscape until it eventually empties into
the St. Lawrence River at Québec City.”
wretched (pron.: RETCH-shed; based on the noun “wretch” = “Schuft”)
• German: jämmerlich, schlimm
• “The wretched conditions in the early 16th-century forts on the St. Lawrence
River and on the Atlantic coast during the harsh winters resulted in dozens of
deaths due to starvation, scurvy and exposure to the cold.”
ragged (pron.: RAGG-ged; based on the noun “rag” = “Lumpen”)
• German: zerlumpt
• “The crews on the English ships were not seldom ragged men from the lowest
walks of life who were victims of a method of forced recruitment called
‘impressment’ at the hands of so-called ‘press gangs’.”
cragged (pron.: KRAGG-ged; based on the noun “crag” = “Felsmassiv”/“Klippe”)
• German: felsig, zerklüftet, markant
• “After the French navigator Jacques Cartier had traded cheap glass beads for
animal furs of the lowest quality with the resident natives, he weighed anchor
and sailed past the cragged cliffs of Gaspé Peninsula and into the St. Lawrence
River to the Iroquois town of Stadacona to visit his old friend Chief Donnacona.” (In contrast to the other words in this list, “cragged” is rarely used in everyday speech.)
naked (pron.: NAY-ked; based on nothing, really ...)
• German: nackt, unbekleidet
• “The native Beothuk Indians who greeted John Cabot on his arrival on the
Newfoundland coast in 1497 were all but naked – save for a simple leather
loincloth to cover their privates.” (all but = fast, nahezu; save for = ausgenommen, außer)
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