Times the English Language Threw Us For a Loop

This Twitter user asked a question many of us have asked through the ages. Why is “naked” pronounced with two syllables, like “nak-ed,” but “baked” is pronounced with one syllable, like “bake-d”? You’d think because they have the same ending that they would be pronounced the same way. Nope, of course, they’re not.

Some researchers think they’re pronounced differently because of the influence of Old English. A lot of Old English words pronounced the “-ed” at the end, and some words have just held on to that pronunciation over time, like “naked”. Language changes over time, mostly because of the way people speak it day-to-day. That seems to be the reason there are two different ways to pronounce “-ed” words today.