H

The eighth letter of the alphabet

Apparently, Catholics in Northern Ireland call the letter "haitch" and Protestestants in the same region call it "aitch". How about you?

I say [eItS], or "aitch", but what's interesting is that while H-dropping is one of the most stigmatized pronunciation traits in England, the very name of the letter has no /h/ sound. I can see how [heItS] could arise because of hypercorrection. Or did it precede the other pronunciation?

<Or did it precede the other pronunciation? >

Not sure.

I say [eitS]. This is pretty standard throughout the US (at least in my experience).

H is aitch, for me (American, neither Catholic nor Protestant).

I think the H's that the rest of us have dropped a long time ago are still preserved in the Appalachians, where people have been known to say "hit" for "it" and "hain't" for "ain't". ("Haint" meaning "ghost" -- a variant of "haunt"-- is a whole 'nother story.)

I say "aitch", and I think nearly all Americans do. But I've read that a lot of Australians say "haitch" - in fact I recently heard an Australian say it that way in a commercial.

I say "aitch" for H, but I think "haitch" is a better pronunciation. Letter names should give a clue as to how they are pronounced. Most letter names in English do that.

<Letter names should give a clue as to how they are pronounced.>

With many letters there is no one single pronunciation.

<<I say "aitch" for H, but I think "haitch" is a better pronunciation. Letter names should give a clue as to how they are pronounced. Most letter names in English do that. >>

But ... in Spanish it's "ache" -- no H-sound either!

And look at W and Y -- neither "double-U" or "wye" sound anything like those letters!

<<But ... in Spanish it's "ache" -- no H-sound either!>>

That's not the best of examples given that h is always silent in Spanish.

<<And look at W and Y -- neither "double-U" or "wye" sound anything like those letters! >>

Actually, "wye" isn't too bad. Consider by, lye, rye, spy, etc.

<<That's not the best of examples given that h is always silent in Spanish. >>

Maybe "ache" is the best they can do:

Consider Chile, escuchar, or even hache :)