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

[Tom Zurinskas]

I wonder.  Is the aspiration when saying "wh" as ~hw at the lips where the ~w is formed so the ~w is unvoiced, or at the back in the throat where ~h is formed?  If it's at the lips, that would make it an aspirated unvoiced ~w rather than a ~h followed by a ~w.


Tom Zurinskas, USA - CT20, TN3, NJ33, FL7+
see truespel.com phonetic spelling



>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC"
> Subject: Re: "wh" words - was "no subject" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>> Poster: Tom Zurinskas
>> 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
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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