-ed

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | 700+ words | Copyright

-ed1 formative of the pp. of weak verbs. in OE. -ed, -ad (-od, -ud), the vowels of which repr. the thematic vowels of the class to which the verbs belong, the suffix proper being -d :- Gmc. *-ǒaz :- IE. *-tós, repr. by Skr. -tás, Gr. -tós (in verbal adjs.), L. -tus. In some OE. verbs, the suffix being added immed. to the base appears as -d, after unvoiced cons. as -t; e.g. seald, pp. of sellan SELL, boht, pp. of byċġan BUY. In ME. the several OE. variants were levelled under -ed; this -ed is usu. retained in writing, although the pronunc. is normally reduced to d or t, e.g. robed, hoped. The pronunc. -id occurs regularly in ordinary speech only in the endings -ded, -ted. A few pps., as beloved, blessed, cursed, have escaped the tendencey to contraction when used as adjs.; and learned as adj. is pronounced with -id, but as pp. with -d or -t.

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T. F. HOAD. "-ed." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "-ed." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ed.html

T. F. HOAD. "-ed." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-ed.html

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