Skippy Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 There probably won't be a lot of discussion for this topic. But we are on this chapter in spelling, and I was curious. Do you personally usually pronounce "wh" as /hw/ with a word such as "what"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 I do during school time. ;) During normal conversation, probably not as much. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted October 31, 2018 Author Share Posted October 31, 2018 1 minute ago, alisoncooks said: I do during school time. ? During normal conversation, probably not as much. : ) I think just about the only time I ever do is when it is mentioned by the spelling book that this is the way it is supposed to be pronounced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 For me it depends on the word. What is wut Where can be hwer or wer When is hwen Who is huu Why is wy unless I am being particularly emphatic and then it is hwy?! Which is witch ? Whistle is wissle 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 We are using an old spelling book that makes the assumption what you use the hw pronunciation. I talked to the kiddo's speech therapist, who teaches at State U, and she said that they don't teach that pronunciation to speech therapists any more, I think it falls into the category of sounds that they don't try to get rid of, but don't try to correct, either...they probably treat it similarly to an accent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I’ve never heard it pronounced that way. What part of the country does that pronunciation originate? I assume it’s an older way of pronouncing the sound. I can’t even figure out how ‘what’ could be pronounced with an h sound first, with a long a yes. I assume it’s a subtle sound but I can’t make it, kind of like I can’t roll an r. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I watched this video but I can’t hear a difference in the sounds! https://rachelsenglish.com/pronounce-wh-words/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 My grandma has been gone many years, but this thread reminded me that she pronounced the word white as hwhite. I've never heard anyone else use the hw sound like that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 Yes, I think I do. However, I don't think the hw sound really sounds like hw - it's more like it's almost an hw. What it isn't is a w. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wathe Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, alisoncooks said: I do during school time. ? During normal conversation, probably not as much. Same! My grandparents really did pronounce "w" and "wh" differently in their usual speech. I don't hear it with my generation. Edited November 1, 2018 by wathe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwik Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 My grandmother used the hw and was taught it at school (NZ). I use w or f (Maori words). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 8 hours ago, Skippy said: There probably won't be a lot of discussion for this topic. But we are on this chapter in spelling, and I was curious. Do you personally usually pronounce "wh" as /hw/ with a word such as "what"? Yes. Always. I was surprised to find out that some people don't. o_0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I do, sort of halfway. You can definitely hear the "h" though I am not consciously trying to pronounce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I had no idea this was a thing until starting our spelling program several years ago. I only do it when we "think to spell". I remember listening to an audio book and hearing the narrator do this when discussing Whigs. It was so amazing to hear someone use it in "normal speech" although I was convinced it was just how that particular word was pronounced vs. how most wh words were pronounced by a small sub-set of people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 Yes, I use the aspirated h sound. Not being a native speaker, this was not something our school English teachers, who never had a chance for contact with native speakers, taught us. I learned it from my voice teacher in the US. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted November 1, 2018 Author Share Posted November 1, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Rachel said: What part of the country does that pronunciation originate? Here is a map hwhich supposedly shows hwhere people are more likely to use the /hw/ pronunciation. : ) "It is now most commonly pronounced /w/, the same as a plain initial 〈w〉, although some dialects, particularly those of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States, retain the traditional pronunciation /hw/." "The sound was used in Gothic and represented by the symbol known as hwair; in Old English it was spelled as 〈hw〉." from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_〈wh〉 Edited November 1, 2018 by Skippy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I pronounce the /hw/ sound. My husband thinks it's hilarious and is always telling me I'm saying those words incorrectly. I'm totally showing him this thread! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarieCurie Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 It's either w or h depending on the word, but I never pronounce it hw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 2 hours ago, Skippy said: Here is a map hwhich supposedly shows hwhere people are more likely to use the /hw/ pronunciation. : ) "It is now most commonly pronounced /w/, the same as a plain initial 〈w〉, although some dialects, particularly those of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States, retain the traditional pronunciation /hw/." "The sound was used in Gothic and represented by the symbol known as hwair; in Old English it was spelled as 〈hw〉." from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_〈wh〉 Well, I guess that is why I hear it here, we are pretty heavily Scottish and Irish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrymum Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I didn't use to. Then i took an Orton Gillingham class. Now I over use it... replace w with wh in other words. All of my in laws use it correctly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 26 minutes ago, countrymum said: I didn't use to. Then i took an Orton Gillingham class. Now I over use it... replace w with wh in other words. All of my in laws use it correctly. I never used it until I used Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing with my kids. Now I over-enunciate wh words to an annoying extreme. Lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonflower Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 On 10/31/2018 at 11:59 PM, Ellie said: Yes. Always. I was surprised to find out that some people don't. o_0 So most other people in your geographic region must pronounce them hw - are you in a fairly isolated area geographically? The only place in the US I haven't been is the southeast, so maybe there. I've never heard it pronounced regularly by most people, anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonflower Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 well I should have read the thread, that map explains a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I've only known one person in my entire life who pronounced "what" beginning with "h." It made such an impression on me. I loved the way it sounded -- so classy! But I always wondered about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I do and don't really stand out for it in this area (Atlanta-ish), but it's not universal. Other places I've gone, I've been told "you must be an English teacher" due to that pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 7 hours ago, moonflower said: So most other people in your geographic region must pronounce them hw - are you in a fairly isolated area geographically? The only place in the US I haven't been is the southeast, so maybe there. I've never heard it pronounced regularly by most people, anywhere. I live near Austin, Texas; before that I lived in San Jose, California, and then San Diego, California, and then Norfolk, Virginia. So, no, not isolated geographically. :-) I think I mostly don't notice how other people say it, so the first time I had this conversation on the Internet, ages ago, I was just surprised. Also, I've been teaching Spalding for over 30 years, and "wh" is one of the phonograms; Mrs. Spalding suggests having the children hold their hands up to their mouths so they can feel their breath when they say "wh." Correct pronunciation helps with correct spelling. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I do, but subtly. There is a difference between wh and w when I say it, but not a great deal. I try to pronounce it a bit more distinctly when reading aloud to my kids. There are also a few words I am more intentional about pronouncing the sound with, such as whale, white, and whittle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phryne Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I do. I grew up in Maryland, but my mother is from the "purple zone" (albeit near the border), and she was my pronunciation mentor. Had it not been for her, I might have called crayons "crowns" like my friend down the street. I shudder to think of it. My /hw/ is subtle, and I had not given it much thought until now. It was not an issue that was stressed in my family. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 I think in every day speech, I probably rush over the sound and don't really say /hw/ much. However, when I am teaching reading and spelling I do (and was taught that way too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Another person who doesn't pronounce it in regular speech... and then over-pronounces it during spelling lessons, to ask if the student can "hear the difference??" ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 On 11/2/2018 at 7:43 AM, Ellie said: I live near Austin, Texas; before that I lived in San Jose, California, and then San Diego, California, and then Norfolk, Virginia. So, no, not isolated geographically. :-) I think I mostly don't notice how other people say it, so the first time I had this conversation on the Internet, ages ago, I was just surprised. Also, I've been teaching Spalding for over 30 years, and "wh" is one of the phonograms; Mrs. Spalding suggests having the children hold their hands up to their mouths so they can feel their breath when they say "wh." Correct pronunciation helps with correct spelling. :-) Except hw isnt correct pronunciation for wh in most of the English speaking world anymore than "k"n is correct for knife and other kn words. We definitely tend to hear what our brain expects though. Sounds come in our ears but get processed and interpreted by our brains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 (edited) On 11/1/2018 at 6:41 PM, countrymum said: I didn't use to. Then i took an Orton Gillingham class. Now I over use it... replace w with wh in other words. All of my in laws use it correctly. Not "correctly." Regional pronunciations are just that, regional. None is more correct than any other. Edited November 4, 2018 by maize Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 The only wh word I pronounce with any kind of h sound is who. ? All the rest, it's the same as any word that starts with w. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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