The exclusively Southern phenomenon of pronouncing H's before W's (house, living)
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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.
I'm not co-signing, however. I am reminded of the Lil John/ Dave Chappelle skit. "Hwhat"! I don't know much about Lil John. However, I presume that he is from the South.
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.
May I ask where you live in the South? I live in the South and I have never been to a place where they pronounce an H before W. I personally have never heard this nor do I know anyone who does this.
How so? I just find it fascinating that virtually an entire region of the country pronounced words that start with "wh" "hw". Hwy does this bother you?
That is totally incorrect. I have never heard anyone pronounce words that way and I live in the Southeast.
How so? I just find it fascinating that virtually an entire region of the country pronounced words that start with "wh" "hw". Hwy does this bother you?
It doesn't BOTHER me. What I was correcting was your implication that people who do pronounce the words with an h sound at the beginning are doing so INCORRECTLY. I gathered this from this quote from you
Quote:
I don't care what an online dictionary says, wh does not = an hw sound.
Several people have pointed out to you that numerous dictionaries in fact clearly state that this is not only CORRECT, it is the most COMMON pronunciation of those sorts of words. So - it really doesn't matter whether or not you believe this, or whether or not you are fascinated, or bemused, or horrified, or WHATEVER. Those of us who pronounce those words in this manner are doing so correctly.
That is totally incorrect. I have never heard anyone pronounce words that way and I live in the Southeast.
A challenge for you: Now that you have read this thread and are aware of this phenomenon, listen for it. You'll be shocked how prevalent it is. You'll hear it everyhwere, even hwen you least expect it. .
It doesn't BOTHER me. What I was correcting was your implication that people who do pronounce the words with an h sound at the beginning are doing so INCORRECTLY. I gathered this from this quote from you
Several people have pointed out to you that numerous dictionaries in fact clearly state that this is not only CORRECT, it is the most COMMON pronunciation of those sorts of words. So - it really doesn't matter hwether or not you believe this, or hwether or not you are fascinated, or bemused, or horrified, or HWATEVER. Those of us who pronounce those words in this manner are doing so correctly.
I find it odd that YOU find it odd.
You're taking yourself WAAAY too seriously. But hwatever. P.S. I fixed it for you.
So what? It's a correct pronunciation. It's the most COMMON pronunciation of such words.
This is a ridiculous thread! It's like saying, "OMG I am so surprised that the summers are hot in the South. Everywhere I go, the summers are hot. I'm just so amazed."
And someone says, "It's normal for summers to be hot."
"I don't care if weather stats say that or if history proves it - it's odd, I tell you!"
Errr, no. It's not odd. It's not even particularly interesting.
My mother grew up in NY and went to college upstate for English where she learned that the hw sound is correct. She says words that start with wh "correctly" and it's quite possibly the most irritating thing I've ever heard. No one goes around atlking ilke htis, os hsut pu.
A challenge for you: Now that you have read this thread and are aware of this phenomenon, listen for it. You'll be shocked how prevalent it is. You'll hear it everyhwere, even hwen you least expect it. .
You said the same thing to me. You act like you know more about our regional accents than we do.
I won't hear it everywhere, because I already know how most people talk here.
I'm amazed that you think this is somehow an exclusively Southern thing, and somehow entirely region-wide as well. In terms of pronunciation, I can't think of anything that is universal in the South.
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