Dropping the aitch from "human"

[Paul Johnston]

Some of the forms you mention, Wilson, were present in earlier
versions of AmE I think, as one-offs.  I say homage as h-less myself;
I've seen StdE h-less accounts of humble from the 19c and Humphrey
from the 16th-17th.  Of course, there's a shade-in between dialects
with a larger set of one-offs and those that are said to  drop /h/
variably--the difference only lies in the presence or absence of non-
categorical dropping in a greater set of words.  But it certainly
points to the presence and influence of /h/-less varieties as part of
the input of a larger number of American dialects than is usually
assumed.

Paul
On Dec 19, 2006, at 1:58 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Dropping the aitch from "human"
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>
> You've  bitten off a big chunk to chew on, Grant. My wife, from
> Wilkes-Barre, PA,  deletes /h/ from /hj-/ clusters, as does my mother,
> from Longview in East Texas. But my mother also deletes /h-/ before /^
> O/, e.g. Hubert Humphrey = [jub at t ^mpfrI], "homage" = [Om at j]. I'm
> pretty sure that _all_ Texans pronounce the name of the town of
> Humble, Texas, as /^mbl/ and do the same with the adjective, "humble."
>
> So, my wife, from NE PA, says: 'yuman, 'Yugh, 'yumor, 'yumid, etc.
>
> My mother (and other Texans?) say: 'yuman, 'Yugh, 'yumor, 'yumid,
> etc,. plus, at least, 'Umble, 'umble, 'Umpfrey, 'omage.
>
> FWIW, my mother and other black East Texans (only?) pronounce
> "yeast" as "eas(t)" [is(t)].
>
> -Wilson
>
> On 12/18/06, Grant Barrett <gbarrett at worldnewyork.org> wrote:
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Grant Barrett <gbarrett at WORLDNEWYORK.ORG>
>> Subject:      Dropping the aitch from "human"
>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>> ----------
>>
>> Can anyone offer insight into or sources covering the regions of the
>> US where "h" is likely to be dropped at the beginning of words in
>> which the "h" is typically pronounced in other regions? The classic
>> example is the word "human."
>>
>> I'm not interested in discussions of just "herb," but words like
>> human, humor, humid, hunger, hoot, hootenanny, hooter, hook, hush,
>> hungry, humble, hundred, hunk, hunker, happy, handle, hanky, hanker
>> and any others where the "h" is, or seems, likely to disappear in
>> specific parts of the country.
>>
>> Journal articles or book recommendations welcomed. I don't have
>> access to Labov et al's Atlas, though page-pointers are welcomed.
>>
>> Thanks, in any case.
>>
>> Grant Barrett
>> http://www.doubletongued.org/
>> editor at doubletongued.org
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org