Pronounce H 'aitch' or 'haitch'

[frank ryan]

'says' pronounced 'sez' mostly - 'pete sez hello' - think that's a regional not a class one

[lectrolove]

It's Aitch, I'm from Essex and had a middle class upbringing.

 

It all depends on who I`m talking to.

 

To friends it`s Aitch and on the phone it`s Haitch.

 

Why?? Do you imagine Haitch is posher or something? I have noticed a tendency for people to put H's in where they don't belong, for instance saying 'has' when they mean 'as' and I've even heard people calling the area I live in Hecclesall for god's sake.

[Olive]

that's it olive - it's the speed of the change that is interesting - I'm 50, working class manchester but went to a quite posh grammar school and I can't remember 'haitch', but kids say it now - which is strange and interesting and probably right - H is usually pronounced 'huh' (hammer) not 'ai' - I'm going to ask a bunch of my kid's mates and will report back

 

And what's more interesting is that people in their 20s and 30s, with a good education, who will have been brought up as "aitchers" are also now inserting the rogue "H".

 

Years ago at work we had an HR Manager, who referred to herself as "Haitch R". It stuck out like a sore thumb and made her look a bit dim.

 

Now I've heard people working in our lauded health service, referring to the N Haitch S. God help us!

 

---------- Post added 15-09-2013 at 12:48 ----------

 

'says' pronounced 'sez' mostly - 'pete sez hello' - think that's a regional not a class one

 

 

Apparently "sez" is the more proper / posh pronunciation, as is "garridge", although people think it's the other way round.

[Ms Macbeth]

I'm Scottish, and speak with a fairly standard Scottish accent overlaid with a bit of Yorkshire, and its always been 'aitch' to me. As for mis -cheev-us v mis -chiv -us, what about the even worse pronunciation that has crept in to our language mis - cheev- Ious?

 

Of course its mis-chiv-us!

[Electerrific]

I think txtspk will do away with the letter H altogether before long

Only scrubbers will not notice the difference...

[Alcoblog]

I still pronounce it the same way as I was taught at infants ... 'Huh'. Shame to see all that education go to waste.

[poppet2]

oxford advanced learner's dictionary agrees to both - I'd say sub si dence

 

it's a good website, gives spoken pronunciation in brit and US english - back to topic - it doesn't give 'haitch' as an alt. to 'aitch' suggesting the change is very new -

 

Then the OP question is answered. The pronouciation on the online dictionary websites confirms all pronunciations.

[chipspice]

how do you pronounce it, where did you grow up and what class are you?

 

this is science!!

 

"aitch"

 

my boss constantly corrects me. even wrote it in large letters on a piece of paper to show us how it should be pronounced!

[Cyclone]

Try explaining that to a foreigner or tourist who has learnt English. They don't teach Geordie or Scottish or Liverpudlian etc, but English. A tourist will tell you the further North you live, the more difficult it is to understand English.

The sad fact is that many tourists can speak better English than those born and educated here.

 

That may be true, but it's nothing to do with accent.

 

H though is pronounced aitch, I'm from Sheffield and my parents were working class. (Were being operative, I think they're middle class now, and I most definitely am).

[Maxtor]

It all depends where you are from. In France they don't pronounce the word at all as there just isn't a sound for it. The correct pronunciation is how the Queen pronounces all words.

 

Since when did Elton John become the benchmark for the English language?