Haf and have

[Enid Pearsons]

Merriam-Webster's unabridged and the Random House unabridged show these
pronunciations for the appropriate definitions.  They are also--at least in
my experience--deliberately taught to ESL students so they can sound more
natural when speaking American English.

There's also /s/ rather than /z/ in _used_ to meaning 'accustomed to', but
not when it means 'utilized to'.  So it's not a purely phonological thing.

Enid
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kim & Rima McKinzey" <rkmck at EARTHLINK.NET>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 5:02 AM
Subject: Re: Haf and have


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Kim & Rima McKinzey <rkmck at EARTHLINK.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Haf and have
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
>
> >It seems that when "have" is used to mean "need" -- as in, "I have to go
> >to the bathroom" -- it is pronounced "haf". But the same speaker using
> >"have" as perfect tense or when meaning "possess" the "v" is vocalized. I
> >have even heard, "I haf to have this."
> >
> >Am I imagining this?
>
> I don't think so.  After listening to myself say the various phrases,
> I think I do exactly that.
>
> Rima
>