"Cindy Hamilton" > wrote in message
...
> On Sunday, August 2, 2015 at 5:31:58 PM UTC-4, graham wrote:
>> On 02/08/2015 3:25 PM, sf wrote:
>
>> > The point that was lost in the subsequent noise is they pronounce the
>> > h in herb and we don't, so it's a herb for them and an herb for us.
>> > The use of a or an depend on the first *sound* of the word, not the
>> > first letter.
>> >
>> Except for the inconsistencies such as "an hotel" not "an 'otel".
>
> If you're expecting English of any sort to be consistent, you'll
> be sorely disappointed. Inconsistency is built in. I blame
> William the Conqueror.
>
> Here's something:
>
> <http://www.bartleby.com/185/12.html>
>
> H.L. Mencken (1880-1956). The American Language. 1921.
> The majority of Americans early dropped the initial h-sound in such words
> as when and where, but so far as I can determine they never elided it at
> the beginning of other words, save in the case of herb and humble. This
> elision is commonly spoken of as a cockney vulgarism, but it has extended
> to the orthodox English speech. In ostler the initial h is openly left
> off; in hotel and hospital it is sometimes not clearly sounded, even by
> careful Englishmen.
>
>
> Not all Americans elide the h in humble. IIRC it's an East Coast thing,
> and possibly is passing from usage.
>
> Incidentally, is the letter H pronounced haitch or aitch?

Aitch!!!



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