The exclusively Southern phenomenon of pronouncing H's before W's (live, radio)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Been a Southern transplant for 6 years now and I am still amazed by this regional pronunciation by natives of the South. Where becomes Hwhere, Why; Hwy, What; Hwhat, Whistle; Hwistle, White; Hwite, etc. The only word that is immune from this pattern is who. And the thing is, this crosses all social and demographic lines; poor southerners, as well as the most articulate and educated ones do this. Very interesting indeed.
haha, that's exactly how that sentence would be said here. There's a local radio talk show host, Bob McLain, who did tv news sports and weather in big Markets, i.e. Washington DC and he, like virtually every native Southerner pronounces his h's before his w's.
Though I'm sure you're saying it's more exaggerated that it needs to be, the Southerners might be "exclusively" correct - look up the phonetics of the words:
why (hw, w)
what (hwt, hwt, wt, wt; hwt, wt when unstressed)
white (hwt, wt)
when (hwn, wn)
where [hwair, wair]
Though I'm sure you're saying it's more exaggerated that it needs to be, the Southerners might be "exclusively" correct - look up the phonetics of the words:
why (hw, w)
what (hwt, hwt, wt, wt; hwt, wt when unstressed)
white (hwt, wt)
when (hwn, wn)
where [hwair, wair]
thefreedictionary.com
dictionary.com
I don't care what an online dictionary says, wh does not = an hw sound.
Been a Southern transplant for 6 years now and I am still amazed by this regional pronunciation by natives of the South. Where becomes Hwhere, Why; Hwy, What; Hwhat, Whistle; Hwistle, White; Hwite, etc. The only word that is immune from this pattern is who. And the thing is, this crosses all social and demographic lines; poor southerners, as well as the most articulate and educated ones do this. Very interesting indeed.
Where in the South do you live? I don't pronounce words like that, nor do most people I know.
This thread reminds me of that Family Guy Wheat Thins commercial.
Where in the South do you live? I don't pronounce words like that, nor do most people I know.
This thread reminds me of that Family Guy Wheat Thins commercial.
Greenville, SC. It's as close to a uniform regional pronunciation as there is. I challenge you to listen for it from now on, I bet you'll be shocked by how prevelant it is. Yeah, that commercial is funny, but it is wrong, in it Brian keeps asking Stewie why he's "pronouncing the h so hard" but what he really is doing is putting the h before the w, "Hweat Thins, Hweat Thins, Hweat Thins", lol. I don't know hwy he does it, or hwere he gets it from.
Last edited by Sophiasmommy; 01-08-2013 at 01:25 PM..
Good thing you moved to the south before your speech patterns were completely jacked up!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
, w
t, hw
t, w
t, w
n, w
