-edly

-edly

1. The suffix occurs in a number of familiar words such as advisedly, allegedly, assuredly, deservedly, and unreservedly, of which some date back to the 14c but most date from the 17c to 19c. In a lengthy article, Fowler (1926) listed these along with many highly abstruse and idiosyncratic forms that were unlikely to survive, such as admiredly, ascertainedly, harassedly, incensedly, and statedly, some of which were not even entered in the OED. There are also a few 20c forms, including painedly, unashamedly, and (not mentioned by Fowler) reportedly.

2. Normally -edly is pronounced as two additional syllables, even when the -ed element is not separately pronounced in the root words; this is true of all the words listed in the first sentence of the previous paragraph. That is to say, advisedly, assuredly, and deservedly are pronounced as four syllables, and fixedly and markedly as three. Formations from adjectives follow this rule only when -ed is pronounced as a separate syllable in the adjective, as in cold-bloodedly and high-handedly (four syllables), but not in frenziedly, hurriedly, and shame-facedly (three syllables).

3. A few awkward cases remain. One wonders how Browning would have pronounced starchedly in his Red Cotton Night-Cap Country (1873); and how D. H. Lawrence would have pronounced painedly in his England, My England (1921); and indeed how the OED editors articulated to themselves the forms admiredly, depressedly, labouredly, and veiledly when they set them down as part of the language. Many of these, however, are used too rarely to cause any real problem.