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Pronounciation of the letter H

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  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    tui34 said:
    @KT53  Probably because that's the way it is pronounced in its country of origin. The Andes.

    But we don't pronounce many words in the way they do in the country of origin.  How many Brits order 'Paeya' in Spain, or say 'otel for Hotel although that is a bad example given the subject matter here :D
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576

    My OH used to teach English to Russian air traffic controllers.  They were very motivated, not surprisingly - I imagine they had to pass quite stringent tests... important to understand and be understood when you're helping to guide a plane.   :o

    Said OH is from Bradford.  He uses the short "a" (bath, not barth) except for the word "master", pronounced "marster", which I find intriguing.  Perhaps a hangover from his days at Bradford grammar school... 
    Same around here - marster - but as a youngster growing up in Sheffield, mester was common too (but also meant mister, as in Mr. not a plant sprayer).

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Perhaps we should pronounce words properly from the country of origin then KT53, it's us that's wrong. We expect other countries to speak our English.  :)
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    That's beautiful @ pansyface   Most Frenchmen have a penknife.  When my late husband lent my late Dad his penknife so that he could eat an apple on the TGV - my brother said "Jeez, Dad!!!  That is a Frenchman's most prized and personal possession!  Don't wash it - just wipe it clean on the bottom of your tee-shirt!!
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    So why don't people in Yorkshire pronounce "bus" the same as in London or New Zealand for that matter.  Yes.  We all have our accents and pronunciation is different.  

    We say London.  The French say Londres.  The Italians say Londra etc and so forth and so on.   Why don't they just say London and get on with it?    

    So why do you say keen oh-wa?  Shouldn't that be qwin-oh-wa?  Pretentious?  Evidement pas!
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • I've been fortunate to have worked all over the country..the down side of that is I've upset many a local pronouncing place names;
    Benbecula (Outer Hebrides) I pronounced, Ben-beck-coola.
    Slaithwaite (West Yorkshire) ..as its spelt. You'll never guess how the locals pronounce it.
    Chapel of Garioch (Aberdeenshire) ...pronounced Geery not Gary-ock. That really upset one local!!
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    Place names are commonly pronounced quite differently from how they are spelled.  We have great fun with 'outsiders' not knowing how to pronounces Happisburgh or Wymondham.  And we have Aldeburgh and Alburgh.  One is Awldbrugh, the other is Arbrugh.  (The first two - Hazebrugh and Windham).  

    We were introduced to a new cheese - Comté - by a Spanish owned deli in the next town. Except they pronounced it Compte, so we did too. It rapidly became a favourite.  It wasn't until the new deli opened in our town that we realised it was French and the accented 'e' should be pronounced.  But it is so hard to get out of the habit and saying it correctly feels pretentious to us now!
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    @didyw what about the Norfolk village of  'Hautbois'* ?

    and I have to admit to confusing Salhouse and Salthouse when doing my first map for Norfolk's Open Studios ... that took some overtime to sort out 🙄

    and don't get me started on the 'ph' in Reepham and other villages with a 'ph' in Norfolk being pronounced  'ff' as if it were Greek ....  the 'ham' obviously comes from the AngloSaxon with the same root as 'hamlet'  .... no one says Claffam instead of Clapham do they?   I blame over-educated village vicars with their bit of Greek and no common sense.   









    * pronounced 'Obbis ................. 




    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited January 2022
    No it's St Reatham and Claahhmm to the gentrificators ( gentrifiers?)
    Surrey Docks was changed to Surrey Quays for rhyming slang reasons.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    ... and Cley pronounced Kligh @Dovefromabove!
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
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