"wh" words - was "no subject" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mullins, Bill AMRDEC]

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

I guess I'm in the minority, then, because I pronounce most of them with
a "hw" instead of a "w".

> -----Original Message-----
> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Tom Zurinskas
> Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 3:08 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "wh" words - was "no subject"
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
---------------
> --------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Zurinskas <truespel at HOTMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      "wh" words - was "no subject"
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> All the following words beginning with "wh" are said to be pronounced
> ~hw in first pronunciation in the McMillan Dictionary for Children
> 2001, then as ~w in second pronunciation.
>
> whack
> whale
> whaling
> wharf
> what
> whatever
> wheat
> wheel
> wheelbarrow
> wheelchair
> wheeze
> whelk
> when
> whenever
> where
> whereabouts
> whereas
> whereupon
> wherever
> whey
> which
> whichever
> whiff
> while
> whim
> whimper
> whine
> whinny
> whip
> whippoowill
> whir
> whirl
> whirlpool
> whirlwind
> whisk
> whisker
> whiskey
> whistle
> white
> whiten
> whitewash
> whittle
> whiz
> whoa
> why
>
> thefreedictionary.com also gives ~hw as first pronunciation for these
> words in their notation, but listening to the pronunciation I don't
> hear it.  "Wheat, which, whip, whisk" spoken at the clickable "icon" I
> believe have ~hw, but the speakers at the US and UK clickable flags do
> not for any of these words.
>
> I think that folks that say ~hw for these words are in the vast
> minority, and ~hw should be 2nd pronunciation if it's still spoken at
> all.
>
>
> Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
> see truespel.com phonetic spelling
>
>
> >
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
-------------
> ----------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society
> > Poster: Wilson Gray
> >
---------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----------
> >
> >> Imagine "whoa" as "hwoa"
> >
> > Or "who" as "hwo"
> >
> > Self continues to be the measure of all things.
> >
> > Back in 1961, I got into a shouting match with a barracksmate from
> > Cincinnat[@] who'd more-or-less rhetorically asked,
> >
> > "You ever notice that, in words that start with wh-, like "[w]at,"
> the
> > -h- is never pronounced?"
> >
> > Say *[hw]at*?!!! That was one of the most ignorant remarks that I'd
> > ever heard! [w]y, I knew people in *Saint Louis* from Cincinnat[@]
> and
> > they didn't be saying any "[w]at"! (Even though they did say
> > "Missour[@]." But that was okay. My Texan grandmother used
> > "Missour[@]," too.) They pronounced it the *right* way: "[hw]at"!
> Just
> > as *I* did!
> >
> > As Stewie (cf. The Family Man) says, "Will [hw]eaton."
> >
> > -Wilson
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > -Wilson
> > ---
> > 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.
> > -Mark Twain
> >
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Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

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