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How do you pronounce the ‑ing forms of verbs that originally end with -e or ‑ie?

Although the rules for writing such verbs that end with ‑e or ‑ie are сlear:

  • make > making (take off "-e" + "‑ing")
  • die > dying (take off "‑ie" + "‑ying")

Nonetheless, the rules for their pronunciation are not clear to me like those for their spellings are.

How do you pronounce a final ‑e and ‑ie when you add an ‑ing to it in these verbs?

tchrist
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Тарас
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  • I'm feeling a bit *stymied* here. What exactly are you asking? I'm not wild about the orthography myself, but you can't really argue with the dictionary: stymy Past participle: stymied* Gerund: stymying. Admittedly, we usually spell the base form [stymie](https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/stymie), but that simply can't work with the ing* suffix. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 17:01
  • Variously related including some probable duplicates: https://english.stackexchange.com/q/139349 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/390330 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/184945 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/60852 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/30679 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/244280 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/292342 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/76666 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/38524 https://english.stackexchange.com/q/107157 – tchrist Jun 25 '17 at 17:02
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    @FumbleFingers what does mean "stymy"? There is no such word. Why are you talking about "stymied". It is not a verb, but a past participle. – Тарас Jun 25 '17 at 17:16
  • Your 100-rep start implies you know how SO sites work, so you should have realised that stymy in my first comment was a link to a dictionary definition. Which by implication means there is such a word - even though (as I pointed out before) we usually spell it stymie**. – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 17:21
  • @tchrist♦: I'm impressed with the range of "related" posts you came up with (bit dubious about the *whinge/whine* one though! :) – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 17:25
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    @FumbleFingers Depends whether you’re whingeing about it. :) – tchrist Jun 25 '17 at 17:26
  • @tchrist: I did find one written instance of ...political compulsions have thus stymyed* any major progress...*, but I don't think it's even worth looking for anyone brave/daft enough to have floated *stymieing* (or even *stymiing, which at least could call on skiing* for orthographic support! :) – FumbleFingers Jun 25 '17 at 17:30
  • @FumbleFingers Sorry, I did an error: not die ->dying (take off "-ie" + ing), but die ->dying (take off "-ie" + ying)` – Тарас Jun 25 '17 at 17:47
  • Are you simply trying to figure out some "rule" that allows you to "know" how to change the spelling of the base form of a verb when forming its regular -ing inflection without having to look it up? I don't see anything here about grammar, just writing. Or are you asking not about the writing but about the pronunciation? All -ing inflections are perfectly phonologically regular. – tchrist Jun 25 '17 at 17:52
  • @tchrist This question is not about writting, this question is only about pronunciation (transcription). – Тарас Jun 25 '17 at 17:58
  • I've rewritten the question for clarity. Transcription is not related to pronunciation; it's when you convert what is said into writing. You seem to be asking how to pronounce what is written, which is something else again. Moreover, letters like -e and -ie are not pronounced in any meaningful way in English, because English spelling is not meant to represent English pronunciation in any direct, one-to-one way. You have to learn the spelling and pronunciation of each word completely separately, and each has its own long history. – tchrist Jun 25 '17 at 18:11
  • @tchrist So, if I known transcription of a verb (infinitive), that ends with -e or ‑ie , I cannot find out transcription of it's -ing form (without dictionary)? – Тарас Jun 25 '17 at 18:35
  • @Тарас Please don't using the word transcription to mean pronunciation: that is NOT what the word means. The key point here is that every -ing verb sounds exactly like the original verb does but with an extra /ɪŋ/ added to the end of it. The spelling does not matter at all; remember, this is English! – tchrist Jun 25 '17 at 18:42

1 Answers1

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The pronunciation of the -ing form of the verbs die and make is completely regular.

In IPA, make is /meɪk/.
Making is /ˈmeɪ·kɪŋ/.

In IPA, dye is /dɑɪ/.
Dying is /ˈdɑɪ·ɪŋ/.

The 'e' on the end of these words is not pronounced, and to make the -ing form, you just add /ɪŋ/ to the pronunciation.

There is only one class of verbs I can think of that might be considered irregular — those verbs whose pronunciations end with /-əl/ or /-ər/. Here, you can optionally remove the schwa /ə/.

For example, table is pronounced /ˈteɪ·bəl/.
Tabling is pronounced /ˈteɪ·bəl·ɪŋ/ or /ˈteɪ·blɪŋ/.

Peter Shor
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