LL-L "Phonology" 2003.08.30 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 30.AUG.2003 (08) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2003.08.29 (13) [E]

><I've been wondering about the sound /hw/ in English and its prevelance
><among English and Scots speakers. I'm interested to know how widespread
>it <is in the US, the UK, and throughout the Lowlands world. Is it
>common in <other Lowlandic languages, outside of Scots and English? I
>have always <thought that it was common in the Southern US, parts of
>England, and <Scotland, but I'm not sure. To be frank, I want to know
>because a few <friends of mine claim that no one says it as /hw/.

Those friends are mistaken. Roughly 10% of US-ans (including myself)
routinely use /hw/ and make a clear distinction between (e.g.) "whale" and
"wail", and I believe in the US it may be individual rather than regional
variation which dominates. I believe the fraction with /hw/ was closer to
50% about 50 years ago. In my own immediate family some make the
distinction, some don't ... the younger persons tending to lose /hw/, but
some under age 20 still using it regularly. This is North Midland US
dialect territory here, I think, but we speak more like Chicago in my
family perhaps (we've moved).

Most of those who have "never heard it" actually just never noticed it. By
comparison, I myself thought until a few years ago that almost everyone
used /hw/ (at least in careful speech), and I never noticed that about half
of my acquaintances LACKED it until I read about this subject and asked and
listened carefully. Some US-ans under age 30 or so may encounter /hw/ from
only 5% or less of contemporaries, I suppose, and many people who use /hw/
use it only sporadically.

-- Doug Wilson

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