/hw/, herb & hw-

[Beverly Flanigan]

At 09:38 PM 1/29/01 -0600, you wrote:
>Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>
> > I'm not so sure the /h/ in 'herb' is totally gone or simply
> > idiolectal.  I've heard it here in southern Ohio occasionally.  In any
> > case, I've asked a native of the region to ask around and will report.
>
>I wonder whether those who want to declare h- and hw- dead, dead, dead are
>engaging in a
>little wishful thinking so that they won't have to be concerned about
>being "wrong"
>themselves.  At least one hopes they aren't also wishing dead, dead, dead
>to apply to the
>producers of this quaint little spirant.  (Just kidding.)  When we've had
>discussions of
>hw- before on ads-l, and now too, it's pretty clear that this one (but
>maybe not hherb) is
>evanescing in a generalized language change that transcends regional
>dialect boundaries.
>I don't think for a New York minute that the media are the initiators of
>the change,
>because they would promote conservative usage if they could.  When I hear
>relatives in
>Tennessee say the h- in the 3rd person neuter singular pronoun it seems
>like the
>articulation of this initial consonant is a little different from mine
>when I imitate
>their pronunciation.
>DMLance

To follow up on this:  I too occasionally hear "hit" here in southern Ohio,
from older/rural/males generally, but I won't be absolute on this.  When I
ask about it in class, my students admit with some embarrassment that their
"grandpa or uncle" says it.  It seems to me I've only heard it
sentence-initially or after a pause; is the /h/ pretty generally lost
mid-sentence, or only after a consonant?

_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm