h in what and where

[Herbert Stahlke]

Labov's map
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/maps/Map8.html
shows a lot of areas in the Lower South, Lower North,
and a little Upper North, especially SW Wisconsin and
far southern LP Michigan.  There's also some in
Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as other pockets
scattered throughout the country.  I can't speak to it
sociolinguistically beyond noting that my mother, whose
first language is German and learned English when she
started elementary school in Hamtramck, MI, in 1912,
very clearly and consistently maintains the contrast.
She was an elementary school teacher in a small town
south of Detroit in the 40s and 50s, and her "teacher
dialect" is noticeable.  My father, whose language
history is the same except in rural east central
Minnesota and who was a Lutheran minister, did not have
the contrast consistently.

Herb Stahlke
Ball State University
> I'm curious: Who pronounces the h in what and where? Does it depend on age,
> region, race, or class?
>
> Paul
> _________________________
> Paul Frank
> English translation
> from Chinese and German
> e-mail paulfrank at wanadoo.fr