Dropping the aitch from "human"

[Wilson Gray]

We're having a "two-countries-divided-by-the-same-language" moment,
Paul. What does "one-off" mean?

I once read somewhere that there's supposedly a shibboleth between
Catholic Northern-Irish and Protestant Northern-Irish: Catholics say
"haitch"; Protestants say "aitch." Thanks to a friend, I had occasion
to meet two young, Catholic, Northern-Irish women.

So, I asked about the shibboleth: "Is it true that Protestants say
'aitch' and that Catholics say 'haitch'?" Surprisingly to me, they
said that it was not true. So, I asked, what do Catholics really say,
then? They answered, we say "hee-etch," or a sound more or less to
that effect.

So, I was doubly surprised that their grammars didn't automatically
map their "hee-etch" onto my "haitch," given that they didn't appear
to be otherwise confused by my manner of speech.

-Wilson

On 12/19/06, Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at wmich.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Dropping the aitch from "human"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
> >
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> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.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

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