In other words, do you say the words WHY, WHERE, and WHALE as [B]WY/WERE/WALE[/B], or as [B]HWY/HWERE/HWALE?[/B]
Most english-speaking people these days spell these words the former way, as most of them have developed what is called [B]the wine-whine-merger[/B]. However, in the past the latter one used to be the more standard way of pronunciation. The old way (hwy/hwere/hwale) has been retained mainly in the US southern states, and parts of Ireland and Scotland (EDIT: though not amongst everyone from these places).
So, how do you yourself say these words? Please provide some commentary too, instead of merely voting and leaving it at that.
[B]ME: I use the HW sound, I am not a native speaker.[/B]
cool whip
My mum is from Scotland and she has never used Hw
I use it to sound posh and egotistical. Otherwise I don't use the hw sound.
[QUOTE=download;40115575]My mum is from Scotland and she has never used Hw[/QUOTE]
I wasn't of course implying that every person there would use it, just that its more common in the listed places than elsewhere.
I'm from Scotland and I don't pronounce it 'hw'.
On English phonetics lessons we were taught not to use it, so no.
[QUOTE=sltungle;40115670]I'm from Scotland and I don't pronounce it 'hw'.[/QUOTE]
Being from Scotland, have you ever heard someone say it like that?
The only person I've heard pronounce the H is Ben from Lost. We make fun of it in our house.
I did it on the first week of Sophomore year in HS to sound smart, and thinking back to it now, I feel like a dumbass and my teachers probably thought so as well.
I'm English and not once have I used the HW sound, maybe it's just a non-native thing?
[QUOTE=download;40115751]Being from Scotland, have you ever heard someone say it like that?[/QUOTE]
To tell the truth, the effect is rather subtle, so it's not said like HHHHH'wy or anything the like. It's not very easy to notice.
[B]Here's a simple test to determine if you have it:[/B]
Put your mouth in front of a lit candle and say a word that begins with a wh.
If the sound affects the flame (a blowing effect), you have the HW sound. If the flame is unaffected, you have the wine-whine-merger instead.
Do you mean like that way Hank Hill says "I tell ya hwat"?
Native speaker, and no. Why should "wh" at the start of a word be pronounced as "hw"? It's silly.
I dont want to but im not sure , non-native
They didnt teach me this in school but there was never anything wrong with words like that i think. Or at least nobody complained about it..
If i do the candle test (i just used my hand), i sometimes blow out some air and sometimes i dont. But i dont really hear a difference..
Interestingly enough, there's a Unicode character for this: ƕ.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;40118005]Native speaker, and no. Why should "wh" at the start of a word be pronounced as "hw"? It's silly.[/QUOTE]
That's because the words that now begin with WH were originally both WRITTEN AND PRONOUNCED with a HW.
However, in written speech, the HW was changed into WH somewhere along the line many centuries ago (I don't know why), but the pronunciation itself was retained until relatively recently.
The habit of eliminating the H in speech (the wine-whine-merger) began in and around London, and when the public school English developed during the last few centuries, this habit got transmitted to it too. As a result, the wine-whine-merger became a prestige feature.
This merger later got transmitted to the United States, where the original pronunciation was retained for a bit longer (In the early 20th Century it was still very common).
Nowadays the original pronunciation is used only by very few.
I was always under the impression/taught that hwhy, hwhere, ect.. was improper and incorrect.
Native English speaker.
I think it's mostly the Irish who speak like that.
if you use the hw sound anywhere in America we will probably start laughing abysmally because it's extremely odd
[QUOTE=juhana;40119981]That's because the words that now begin with WH were originally both WRITTEN AND PRONOUNCED with a HW. [/QUOTE]
Language changes and I don't think the original spelling is relevant. We pronounce and spell [i]many[/i] words differently today.
I wouldn't say one is wrong, and that's why I said silly instead of wrong.
Irish guy here, I've been to almost every county in Ireland and I've never heard anyone use the HW sound.
Who talks like that, anyway?
[QUOTE=IrishGamer;40121375]Irish guy here, I've been to almost every county in Ireland and I've never heard anyone use the HW sound.
Who talks like that, anyway?[/QUOTE]
You're from Ireland, why bother talking when you can punch them in the face.
There's usually a few seconds in which we toss insults back and forth, you can pick up on how people talk in that short period of time.
No one's called my mother a hwore yet.
I drop most of my H's anyways.
I have never heard it except when it's made fun of.
native english speaker, by the way
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