Why do we not put an accent over the ed in wretched?
I mean. I know, it’s just how we pronounce wretched in general – in anything. But in Shakespeare – to get the pronunciation of wretched, we put a little clue – a little accent to indicate its extra syllable sound – one that this word has naturally. However – with that rule in place, it makes me wonder if the absence of an accent in this scenario might be an indication of a different pronunciation of wretched. A one syllable version, for example.
How would an editor indicated an unpronounced ed – how would one indicate an un-emphasized syllable in a word that we usually emphasize?
Is there a symbol for that?
Probably, But most of us wouldn’t recognize it.
The Hamlet Project 