patsylabrador Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Do you say aitch or haitch for the letter H? Forgot to say.... I say aitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Something in the middle. The 'h' is very soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmashazzie Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch here too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 aitch from me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursula123 Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Haitch here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Haitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 aitch! Is there a north/south split Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch From the Oxford English Dictionary: Pronunciation:aitch/eɪtʃ/ Which makes sense as prefixes should treat any word starting in H as being with out it, so 'an hotel' not 'a hotel'. If the 2nd letter is a vowel, then the h is treated as silent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch From the Oxford English Dictionary: Pronunciation:aitch/eɪtʃ/ Which makes sense as prefixes should treat any word starting in H as being with out it, so 'an hotel' not 'a hotel'. If the 2nd letter is a vowel, then the h is treated as silent. Hmmm, I wonder if those living in 'Arlow, Essex and 'Aringey, London know! Obviously 'Eckmondwicke in Yorkshire have caught on!!!! What an amazingly complicate language we have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoid Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Funny, but coming from the North I would say 'a hotel', distinctly pronouncing the 'h'. I thought dropping the 'h' was a French thing, but then the language does derive from French does't it? The most perfect English is spoken in Leicestershire,as I found out when I worked there. Not a trace of an accent at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groovychook Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Definitely aitch I can't stand the haitch at all. Don't get me started on it. The children at the school I work at sometimes say it and I tell them it is aitch. You don't sing the alphabet song and then stick an haitch in it, it just doesn't sound right Even my sentence doesn't make sense with 'an haitch' in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch From the Oxford English Dictionary: Pronunciation:aitch/eɪtʃ/ Which makes sense as prefixes should treat any word starting in H as being with out it, so 'an hotel' not 'a hotel'. If the 2nd letter is a vowel, then the h is treated as silent. Agree with the pronunciation, but not so sure about the explanation. For instance: A hat A hawk A head A harbinger A hand A humbug I can't be absolutely certain (school was a long time ago and I haven't researched fully), but I think the only words with a silent H at the beginning (and which are preceded by the indefinite article "an") are ones with their roots in French - hour, honour, honest, heir, hotel and so on. What I have found, though, is that the letter's name comes from old French, and therefore is quite correctly pronounced without an H. Even if it were spelled "haitch", therefore, it would have to be correct to pronounce it "aitch" as following the same form as the word "hour". Trivia? Absolutely. Fun and interesting, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Aitch Most English teachers in the Netherlands only speak Oxford English. In my schooldays I never met anyone with a different accent apart from an Indian exchange student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 To me it would be Hay-CH. But then I am told that I sound quite posh. lol I had to tone down how posh I was in my last job as my boss used to take the you-know-what out of my 'telephone voice' as she called it. I also used to pronounce gas as g-"Ooops, word censored!" as opposed to g-ass, and grass as gr-"Ooops, word censored!" as opposed to gr-ass etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 I think it is just another habit that people have got into. Just like changing the ending of each sentence like you are asking a question when you are not. That really gets on my nerves too. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Funny, but coming from the North I would say 'a hotel', distinctly pronouncing the 'h'. I thought dropping the 'h' was a French thing, but then the language does derive from French does't it? English is primarily a Germanic language, but has a French influence because of the Norman invasion and the Anglo-French royal marriages etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyRoo Posted November 15, 2016 Share Posted November 15, 2016 Just like changing the ending of each sentence like you are asking a question when you are not. I used to live in the US and I can tell you the worst people in the world for that are (no offence to them) people from L.A.; they all sound like everything is, like oh my god - that is literally the most exciting thing I have ever heard...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I think it is just another habit that people have got into.Just like changing the ending of each sentence like you are asking a question when you are not. That really gets on my nerves too. Sorry. I blame 'Neighbours' for this.....it drives me totally nuts and, intolerant that I am, whenever I hear it I have images of me wielding a crowbar efficiently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 I think it is just another habit that people have got into.Just like changing the ending of each sentence like you are asking a question when you are not. That really gets on my nerves too. Sorry. I blame 'Neighbours' for this.....it drives me totally nuts and, intolerant that I am, whenever I hear it I have images of me wielding a crowbar efficiently So glad that I am not the only one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitfluff Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Haitch for me too. Aitch and 'an hotel' might be correct but to my (northern) ears sound a bit strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Aitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
