How to pronounce "blessed" and "cursed"?

Question

When do we pronounce "blessed" as "blEsld" or "blEst"?When do we pronounce "cursed" as "k@sld" or "K@:st"?

Raindoctor · Accepted Answer

The heuristic is like this. "blEst" is a predicative. blEsld" is attributive. For more, check this quora discussion where I participated. http://www.quora.com/English-language/Why-doesnt-crooked-rhyme-with-cooked

Healer · Answer

I would expect whether they are predicative or attributive, the pronunciations are the same. Examples such as "He is blessed." and "He is a blessed person". There is no difference at all.

Nevertheless in religious prayers, there are many examples starting with "Blessed are ..." or the word "Blessed" followed with somebody's name. I have heard the former says "blEsld". So is the word "Blessed" in the context attributive or predicative? Which way should we say the word "Blessed" that followed with the name of a person, those part-way become saints?

Raindoctor · Answer

Observations (phenomena) are not explanations. The so-called rules that people sell are mere generalized observations. So, you can always raise two kinds of questions for such observations: (a) why that is so? (b) point out exceptions that invalidate such generalizations. If you agree to this much, this is what I say about your question.

1. In "Blessed are those ...", 'blessed' is an attributive, thanks to a virtual (hidden) functor (noun) right after "blessed". This explanation involving "virtual functors" is not mine. It is C.-J Bailey's. And his explanation accounts for many disparate grammatical facts (observations).

2. As you point out, in sentences like "he is a blessed person", "blessed" does not have an extra syllable. You further ask "why"? I don't have an answer. That is for you to figure out: read the existing literature in phonology, phonetics and the interface between two, and then come up with a hypothesis that can account for many disparate observations.

3. Here are disparate facts related to "adding an extra syllables"

A. plurals of those ending with sibilants (and/or affricates)
B. past and past participles of those ending with apical stops
C. Gerunds and attributive particples in -ing ending in an unstressed vowel plus a sonorant are dysllabic in normal tempos when the uninflected verb is disyllabic (e.g. op'ning, soft'ning, foll'wing, lab'ring, and lab'lling--predicative versions are trisyllabic). Similar differences exist with anterior (past) participles: contrast attributive age¨d, learne¨d, burnt, split, rotten, molten, swollen, laden, sunken, and drunken with ag'd, learn'd, burned, spilled, rotted, melted, swelled, loaded, sunk, and drunk.
D. Note the extra syllable -e¨d after stressed syllables when -ly or -ness is added to a participle in -ed; e.g. markedly, markedness.
E. Contrast D with examples like this: subtler, meag'rest, of(t)'nest where -er, -est, are added. In these cases, there is no extra syllable; and this has to do with sonorant-clustering or sonorant-degemination.
F. Increased obstruent clustering causes pronunciation problems. There are two ways to solve that issue: sonorant degemination like in E; or add an extra syllable -e¨d in order to avoid *mark'dly and *mark'dness
G. Formations like *difficulter, *difficultest, *difficultest are ruled out because of rythmic reasons (like several unstressed syllables occurring in succession). However, unbecomingly and insincerest are accepted. Look at the pseudo explanations many grammar books sell: length of words play a role!

Sure, you can bring out all examples that are at variance with these observations. As I am not a researcher myself, I will just pick the best explanations available in the market place, even if that explanation does not explain all objections. So, how to go from here? Find a better explanation that accounts for A to G as well as objections people may have.

Healer · Answer

Sorry for taking such long time to get back again. I couldn't get my head around it at the time. With the adjective word "crooked" quoted in the example of http://www.quora.com/English-language/Why-doesnt-crooked-rhyme-with-cooked you gave, I believe it is actually pronounced the same be it attributive or predicative which is contray to rule you suggested.

Below is the excerpt I got from my New Shorter Oxford Enlish Dictionary.
crooked /"krUkId; in sense A.5 usu. krUkt/ a. & adv.ME. [f. CROOK n. + -ED2, prob. after ON krókóttr crooked, cunning.]A adj. 1 Bent from a straight form; twisted, awry. ME. 2 Of a person: deformed; bowed with age. ME.b Of a horse: broken down, old and decrepit. ME–L17. 3 fig. Not straightforward; deviating from uprightness of character or conduct; dishonest; corrupt. ME. 4 Dishonestly come by; stolen. colloq. M19. 5 = CROOK a. 3. (Foll. by on.) Austral. & NZ slang. M20. 1 O. HENRY His smile became crooked. 3 M. PUZO A crooked police official.

Healer · Answer

You said that 'In "Blessed are those ...", 'blessed' is an attributive, thanks to a virtual (hidden) functor (noun) right after "blessed"'. Then you must be suggesting that the word "blessed" in your example is pronounced as one syllable according to the rule you suggested. However I often hear people say it with 2 syllables in the church. So which one is right? I am not asking for a rule or a theory because there are too many exceptions in the English language and irregularities are usually accepted as exceptions. I just want to know which is accepted in general.

Do we say the word "blessed" in "Blessed Mary" for example as one syllable or 2 syllables?

BarbaraPA · Answer

The Blessed Virgin Mary is "bless-id" (two syllables).

I have no idea how JK Rowling wants us to say "The Cursed Child" -- I've been saying "curse-id" but maybe it's just "kerst."

Healer · Answer

Thanks!
That's what I heard all the time. I am a Catholic and live in Australia.

Though there are lots of exception to rules in English language I have been trying to establish some rules for the way to pronounce them because I am very particular about language but I fail. Though I would more likely say what most people say in order to be understood easily I would still like to find out what they are meant to say in educated way, hence my question.

Thanks again!

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