On 03/08/2015 4:59 AM, Ophelia wrote:
>
>
> "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!!!
>
>
>
I had a colleague with a Ph.D who used "haitch". Dead social give-away,
that was!
Graham
--
"You can't buy happiness, but you can buy wine,
which is kind of the same thing".