Inflections are endings that change the form of a word for a grammatical category without changing its grammatical class. Thus sadder and saddest contain inflections for the grammatical categories of comparative and superlative but the words remain adjectives, whereas the word sadness contains a derivational form that changes the word to the class noun.

The regular comparative inflection < -er > is pronounced / -@ /; transcribe

deeper, fatter, higher, lower, quieter

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The regular superlative inflection <est > is pronounced with either / -@st / or / -Ist /. Transcribe these words in both ways:

deepest, fattest, highest, lowest, quietest

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The regular past tense or past participle inflection < -ed > is pronounced in three different ways according to the final sound of the stem.

1. If the stem ends in the consonants / t, d /, the inflection is pronounced ‘in full’, either as / -@d / or / -Id /, eg waited: / "weIt@d, "weItId /; added / "{d@d, "{dId /.

2. If the stem ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant (other than / d / ), the inflection is pronounced in a reduced form / -d /, eg freed / f r i: d /, cried / k r aI d /, warned / wO:nd /, raised / reIzd /.
3. If the stem ends in a voiceless consonant (other than / t / ), the reduced form is changed to / -t /, eg crossed / krQst /, stopped / stQpt /, coughed / kQft / .

Now try and transcribe these words:

liked, likened, lighted, lied, wiped, washed, rubbed, treated, glued

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Notice the past tense of words like care: cared / kE@d /; in non-rhotic accents, there is no <r> in the transcription.

Try: flared, sneered, poured, cured, stirred

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Finally, notice an older <-ed> form like LEARNED used now only as an adjective: / "l3:n@d, "l3:nId /. And these words; transcribe them in the two ways

blessed ____ ______

beloved _____ ______

The regular present tense third person inflection < -es > also has three possible pronunciations, again depending on the final sound of the stem. The regular plural inflection, and the genitive possessive inflection of nouns follow exactly the same pattern.

1. If the stem ends in / s, z, S, Z, tS, dZ / (the so-called sibilant consonants) the inflection is pronounced ‘in full’, either as / -@z / or / -Iz /, eg crosses / "krQs@z, "krQsIz/, watches /"wQtS@z, "wQtSIz /, George’s / "dZO:dZ@z, "dZO:dZIz /.
2. If the stem ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant (other than the sibilants), the inflection is pronounced in a reduced form / -z /, eg frees / fri:z /, cries / kraIz /, warns / wO:nz /, John’s / dZQnz /.
3. If the stem ends in a voiceless consonant (other than the sibilants), the reduced form is changed to / -s /, eg stops / stQps /, coughs / kQfs /, waits / weights / weIts /, Mike’s / maIks /.

There are two cases where an irregular inflection is not reflected in the spelling. Note that the final / s / of house changes to / z / when the plural suffix is added. Transcribe the word: houses _____

Secondly, a number of words ending in –TH usually change from the voiceless dental fricative / T / to the voiced one / D / when the plural suffix is added. Transcribe:

paths, baths, youths, truths, mouths, wreaths

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How about these place names (2) ?