How do you all pronounce wh and where are you from?

[TravelingChris]

I got this idea to ask this question from the William thread. I am through teaching my children phonics but I remember that one problem I had was books that said wh was pronounced differently than w. I am currently watching a series at my church and it annoys me so much that one frequent speaker keeps saying hwat and other wh words as hw. I was born in DC and moved to VA suburbs at age 2. Neither I nor my husband who was born in northern NJ say hw. Who does? And do you pronounce whale any differently from wail? I don't/

[LaxMom]

Nope. They sound pretty much the same, and certainly not "hw". I'm originally from ME, now in MD.

[Carrie12345]

North Jersey here, too. Wh is w. Unless the word is 'who', and then it's just h.;)

 

We're on the wh blend with one dd, and I am trying to add a slight h sound for her benefit, but it's difficult and I feel silly, lol.

[fivetails]

I've never heard anyone say the "wh" sound any different than "w" ... what, where, why, wizard, wishbone, watermelon... all the same starter sound. :)

 

(and I'm Canadian - from PEI but living in AB at the moment)

 

 

On the other hand, many islanders say the letter H - and I mean SAY the LETTER - as "hay-ch" ... rather than "ay-ch" ...so we have no room to tease. ;)

[Liza Q]

Whale. Wail. Almost identical - but not quite. I feel like I emphasize the W sound when there is no H, but with the H the W sound is a little - less. Like a tiny pause before the W sound comes out.

 

I am from Brooklyn - though I don't have a sterotypical Brooklyn accent. Most people I know do not!

[nukeswife]

I pronounce them both the same and I grew up in Wisconsin, my dh grew up in Iowa and is a /w/ sound for both guy. We are currently using IEW's SWI A and that is where my son first heard the /hw/ sound. He said it sounds odd, but would make spelling easier LOL

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I pronounce them differently. For "w", it's strictly a lip thing, and it's a single /w/ sound.

 

For "wh" words, I do pronounce the /h/. The /h/ doesn't come before the /w/. They're not separate, distinct sounds. I say them at the same time. My lips are saying /oo/ while my throat is saying /h/.

 

I am from the Great Southwest.

[Ellie]

/wh/, just the way the phonics books say it.

 

I'm from southeastern Virginia, with 30 years in California.

 

"Watt" and "what" sound completely different to me, and I say them differently.

[Matryoshka]

"Watt" and "what" sound completely different to me, and I say them differently.

 

I pronounce wh and w indentically.

 

However, "watt" and "what" also sound completely different to me, but not because of the w, but because the vowel sound is different.

 

I'm from eastern MA, but my parents are not. I've had people tell me I can't possibly be from here because I don't have a "Boston accent" - ie all my r's are where they're supposed to be.

 

However, I once took an online pronunciation quiz that pruported to tell you where you were from - the "r" thing was never asked about; it was almost exclusively asking about vowel sounds (like, do Mary, marry, and merry sound the same or different to you, or are two the same and one different - my answer is all different :-)

 

Wouldn't you know, that quiz pegged me as being from Boston. :tongue_smilie:

[secular_mom]

wh= something close to hw. I guess hearing me speak would get on your nerves. :)

I was born and raised in Alabama.

[Tap]

no 'h' sounds here. I am in the PNW.

 

Whale and wail sound the same.

 

We ran into a few different words that we pronounce with difference emphasis. Anchor was one of them. Phonics Museum has it as a short 'a' sound, I have only heard it as a long 'a' sound. They also taught that 'wh' is a windy sound, and different from 'w'. I think it said you should be able to see a candles flame flicker if you say a 'wh' sound, but not a 'w'.

 

ETA:

Watt and what sound different to me too. But it is the vowel sound that is different to me.... 'wot' and 'wuht' (both short vowels) There isn't a 'wh' sound to me in what.

Edited May 3, 2009 by Tap, tap, tap

[dirty ethel rackham]

The only time I hear "hw" is from people trying to pronounce something that might be spelled, certain lectors in church, and some hoity-toity relatives who wear dinner jackets to family meals on Sundays. It doesn't bother me, but it is not everyday usage in my circle.

[KidsHappen]

I pronounce them exactly the same and I am a military brat (meaning I have lived about 30 different places in my life). I have always heard them pronounced the same and I think if I heard someone pronouncing them differently, I would assume they had some sort of speech impediment.

 

I am very aware of regional differences in speech though. People from WI and MI pronounce their ending vowels very differently. The "r" thing in Boston - I defnintely heard that when I was there. All the extra Rs in TX. The "i"s and "e"s differences in pen and pin and other words like that. I am sure I could think of more if I thought on it awhile. But I have always heard "wh" and "w" pronounce the same.

[Tree House Academy]

LOL - dh and I have this issue. I say "wuh" just like with a w. Dh likes to say something more like "wuh huh" - you should hear him pronounce the word "whittle." It sounds like steam escaping (to quote my favorite movie "Blazing Saddles" LOL).

[nukeswife]

"Watt" and "what" sound completely different to me, and I say them differently.

 

I would say those differently too but not because of the W or WH. It's the vowel in there that makes them sound different. Watt would have the /ah/ sound and What would have the /u/ sound for the vowel

[A.J. at J.A.]

wh= something close to hw. I guess hearing me speak would get on your nerves. :)

I was born and raised in Alabama.

 

Me too and I've Missouri born and I've lived in the midwest all my life.

 

Blessings,

Angela

[yslek]

Definitely distinct here. "Wh" is always pronounced /hw/. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. Dh, who was a military brat (lived in CA, TX, CO, and WA w/ parents from CA and AR) doesn't differentiate between the sounds. It really annoys me. ;)

 

Old English actually spelled the sound "hw" (e.g. "what" was spelled "hwat"), which makes more sense to me. In the History of English class I took, the first lesson included learning to write phonetically. (Not sounds in slashes like we see in some phonics programs. The "code" was somewhat different, and was written in brackets. For example, the word "see" would be written [si].) We were taught to write "when" as [hwεn]. The text did mention that in some regions, "wh" is pronounced [w] rather than [hw].

 

It's interesting to me how many of you don't differentiate between the two sounds. This has me pondering now whether (wether?) this is a growing trend in the pronunciation of English, and whether in a few generations, words spelled with "wh" will be considered another spelling "anomaly" that will need to be memorized.

 

Fun topic! :D

[Melissa B]

We pronounce the h, so wail and whale sound different. (We also pronouce William as three syllables. :D)

 

I'm going to guess that my parents spoke that way as it is not something I think about, but just do. It is definitely something I passed on to my children since I taught them all phonics and reading. I suppose if people think they speak oddly they can pass it off as a "homeschool thing." That phrase has given them a great deal of latitude in life. :tongue_smilie:

[Jean in Wisc]

http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currDec062006/messages/55.html

 

I wrote several posts on that thread (some are under J in W, not just Jean in Wisc). If you are interested you can check it out--I studied this in grad school, and the prof used me as an example because of my lazy pronunciation of /hw/.

 

:glare:

 

Jean

[kalanamak]

/wh/, just the way the phonics books say it.

 

I'm from southeastern Virginia, with 30 years in California.

 

"Watt" and "what" sound completely different to me, and I say them differently.

 

I have said them differently since I read negative comment about a woman who said them the same in The Egg and I. I was 12. Who says books don't change lives?

[yslek]

http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currDec062006/messages/55.html

 

I wrote several posts on that thread (some are under J in W, not just Jean in Wisc). If you are interested you can check it out--I studied this in grad school, and the prof used me as an example because of my lazy pronunciation of /hw/.

 

:glare:

 

Jean

 

Thank you for the link. I joined the boards after the switch, so wasn't aware of the past discussion. I love the links to the different dialect maps. :)

[MamaT]

There is no difference in /wh/ and /w/ here. My dh and I both grew up in North Florida and now live in NC. I don't think I've ever been around anyone who pronounces them differently.

[laylamcb]

I say the "h" in "wh." Always have. I'm a Virginia native, if that makes a difference, though both parents were California natives.

 

Having said that, I pronounce Mary, marry, and merry exactly the same. ;)

[ereks mom]

I'm in the deep South (cnetral Georgia).

[Janet in WA]

"W" (except for in the word "who).

 

I'm from the Florida panhandle.

[KidsHappen]

http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currDec062006/messages/55.html

 

I wrote several posts on that thread (some are under J in W, not just Jean in Wisc). If you are interested you can check it out--I studied this in grad school, and the prof used me as an example because of my lazy pronunciation of /hw/.

 

:glare:

 

Jean

 

Jean,

 

That was facinating. Thanks. After reading that and thinking of the many pronounciation threads we have had lately, I think it may be that growing up moving around the way I did (military brat) that I just don't hear the difference in many pronounciations. In essence, I standardize everything and then only hear it that way unless the difference is very noticable. I have had many people ask me where I am from because I do not have an accent.

[Michelle in MO]

Raised in Minnesota here, and I say /w/ and /wh/ identically.

 

Interesting tidbit: In Old English, the spelling of words beginning with /wh/ was reversed---to /hw/. I do not remember when exactly the shift occurred, but words like "which, what, who" (of course, the OE equivalents would have been different) were pronounced more like "hwich, hwat, hwo". I haven't studied this extensively, but possibly (very slightly there) this could account for some of the differences in pronunciation.

[fivetails]

 

Having said that, I pronounce Mary, marry, and merry exactly the same. ;)

 

Are they supposed to be different? To me, they're all mair-ee (rhymes with hairy) :)

[laylamcb]

Are they supposed to be different? To me, they're all mair-ee (rhymes with hairy) :)

 

Yes, in some dialects, they sound quite different. I'm thinking of some parts of the Northeast, in particular....

 

(They all sound hairy here, too, by the way. :D)

[Brenda in FL]

I've always pronounced them the same. I think it was 110 EZ lessons where (hwere) I learned that it should have an h sound first. I've never noticed anyone ever pronouncing the h sound though.

 

I'm from south Florida.

[Peek a Boo]

i know that most phonics rules stipulate the /hw/ sound, but I'm just not doing that.

 

the w's sound identical around here.

 

so do the hairy merrys ;)

 

eta: i grew up in San Antonio, TX.

[AndyJoy]

I can't explain it very well, but whale and wail sound different when I say them, and it is not "hw." Wh is more breathy, and w is more hard. If I watch my mouth in the mirror, I open it wider for plain w.

 

I lived in Washington, Illinois, Nevada, Okinawa Japan, California, and Idaho before I was 11 (Air Force), so good luck figuring out where my speech is from! My parents grew up in Washington/Idaho (dad) and Idaho (mom the OCD English major). Usually I come out as a westerner/north westerner when I take regional language tests.

 

Oh, and I say Mary and marry the same, but merry is slightly different!

Edited May 4, 2009 by AndyJoy

[Matryoshka]

Are they supposed to be different? To me, they're all mair-ee (rhymes with hairy) :)

 

They're all different here - Mary is Mair-ee, merry is meh-ree and marry is mahr-ee.

 

I wish I knew the link to that quiz - it was really cool. I thought some of the questions were bizarre (like that one - how else would you prounounce them, I thought :tongue_smilie:). And I was totally humbled that it pegged me... I really didn't think I had any regional accent...

 

ETA: Ooo! Gotta love search engines - I found the quiz! It's here.

 

I just took it again for jollies (just 13 questions, it's quick!), and here's my quite consistent result: :D

You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine

Edited May 4, 2009 by matroyshka

[mazakaal]

Well, I'm from NY (state, not city) and I pronounce wh and w slightly differently. For wh there is a slight breathiness to it. I've taught my kids to say it the same way, but my dd has a hard time with that pronunciation and asked if she could just say a w sound for wh. Of course, I said it was fine. There really is so little difference between them anyway.

 

But I've never heard it pronounced /hw/.

[ElizabethB]

I can't explain it very well, but whale and wail sound different when I say them, and it is not "hw." Wh is more breathy, and w is more hard. If I watch my mouth in the mirror, I open it wider for plain w.

 

 

You actually explained it quite well, easier to understand than many phonetics books (they make my head hurt, I look things up in them occasionally for obscure phonics questions.)

 

When I teach the sounds, I separate them and say that some people say wh differently than w, but everywhere we've lived so far in my 9 moves and 14 years of teaching phonics, people have pronounced them the same.

 

My Arkansas students have a few linguistic quirks that I hadn't heard in other places, but you still teach the same, you just inform them of the difference, tell them to pronounce things like they normally pronounce them, and move on.

[SnowWhite]

My "wh" sort of whistles voicelessly, while my w is "voiced". If I were whispering, it would be easier to say "Whee" than "we" because the way I speak, "wh" is not voiced, but as others have said, sounds "windy". Why and the letter Y are very differently pronounced to me.

 

I am from central Ohio. Now, when I'm singing, Why becomes the letter Y because singers don't want to have windy, whistling sounds in their songs.

So, I'd sing, "Y, o, Y, does the wind blow so lonely?" But if I were reading that sentence, it would be "Why, Oh, Why, ...."

[KidsHappen]

They're all different here - Mary is Mair-ee, merry is meh-ree and marry is mahr-ee.

 

I wish I knew the link to that quiz - it was really cool. I thought some of the questions were bizarre (like that one - how else would you prounounce them, I thought :tongue_smilie:). And I was totally humbled that it pegged me... I really didn't think I had any regional accent...

 

ETA: Ooo! Gotta love search engines - I found the quiz! It's here.

 

I just took it again for jollies (just 13 questions, it's quick!), and here's my quite consistent result: :D

You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine

 

My results - "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." Just like I said. I have a good voice for radio and tv. :)

[fivetails]

 

ETA: Ooo! Gotta love search engines - I found the quiz! It's here.

 

I just took it again for jollies (just 13 questions, it's quick!), and here's my quite consistent result: :D

You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine

 

Me:

 

Your Result: North Central

 

 

"North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.

 

 

Yep, I get mistaken for a Canadian a lot. All the time, in fact. :lol:

 

 

(I AM Canadian!)

[Guest queentulawanda]

I have a doctoral in voice and have taught voice lessons for over 26 years. When I was studyng towards my bachelor's degree in voice performance, part of our required reading was Madeleine Marshall's The Singer's Guide To English Diction. In Dr. Marshall's book she assigned an entire chapter to 'wh' words, and she explained that most of these words derived from Irish or Gaellic, both languages by tradition pronouncing the 'h' before the 'w'. Marshall also explained that in classical singing (as opposed to singing with a microphone or screaming to an electric guitar beside an ear-splitting amplifier) that is was very important to pronounced the 'h'. As there was no script for the audience to follow usually, one wouldn't be able to decipher if the singer meant to sing 'whale' or 'wail'. We were all trained to sing the 'h' first in all 'wh' words.

 

When speaking with a microphone, however, or when just among friends, we were told to leave the 'h' out of the word, as it was considered superfluous and supercilious to the listener. And in the USA or Canada, we've all been conditioned to hear only the 'w'.

 

On the other hand, even today, if one visited the west coast of Ireland and Wales (and even some parts of Scotland), one would still hear the 'h' spoken before the 'w'. In the Welsh language, many of the words have a 'reverse pronouncement' that has dated back to the 1100's.

 

I think the issue is more of a 'you say potayto and I say potahto'. In our 'melting pot' in North America, we're going to hear a lot of variety in the pronouncement of words, just a form of society evolving due to the great immigrations. So, it really doesn't matter how one pronounces the 'wh' words - unless you're a classical singer!

[rocketgirl]

where we're from "hw" is just silly, w says /w/. I had never even heard of a different pronunciation until, after 3 years of teaching public school kindergarten, i suddenly had to teach a different way & teach my students that /w/ and /hw/ were different sounds. Talk about difficult, how could i teach it if I didn't believe it!?

[Veritaserum]

I say /hw/ for wh. I was born and raised in California.

[Word Nerd]

Same.

[Myeightkiddies]

I've never noticed anyone using hw instead of wh.

 

Though I say "Waaarshington" or "waarshing machine" instead of Washington or Washing Machine. I have no clue why, but I have since I was a child. I'm from the south, but no one else here does that. One of my parents was from Oklahoma, and the other was from Michigan. /shrug

[*********]

This thread's like 2 1/2 years old. :tongue_smilie:

[Myeightkiddies]

This thread's like 2 1/2 years old. :tongue_smilie:

 

Wow..too funny!

[AHASRADA]

The only people I have ever heard pronounce an aspirated W for WH words are older (as in , over 70). I have the feeling this is how those words were pronounced long ago, but as the language has evolved, not many people bother to differentiate between W and WH anymore (I certainly don't).

 

However, I do pronounce WH "with wind behind it" when teaching phonics or reading for dictation, to emphasize, teach and remind my dc of the spelling. In normal conversation, no.

[GingerPoppy]

I absolutely exaggerate the /wh/ when doing spelling/phonics work with students. I tell them this is so they have a "spelling picture" in their mind of the word. If they hear the distinct sound in this special spelling memory, they are more likely to remember the spelling. I don't only do it for /wh/, but for lots of other sounds, too.

[Joyofsixreboot]

Hw=wh for me in N In

[Greenmama2]

Raised in Minnesota here, and I say /w/ and /wh/ identically.

 

Interesting tidbit: In Old English, the spelling of words beginning with /wh/ was reversed---to /hw/. I do not remember when exactly the shift occurred, but words like "which, what, who" (of course, the OE equivalents would have been different) were pronounced more like "hwich, hwat, hwo". I haven't studied this extensively, but possibly (very slightly there) this could account for some of the differences in pronunciation.

I pronounce them the same, as do most Australians. However, anyone trying to sound English will pronounce "hwite" etc...

 

Mary, marry and merry are COMPLETELY different! My daughter's name is Meri, not Mary :glare: Merry (and also Meri ;) ) rhymes with berry.

[LaxMom]

This thread's like 2 1/2 years old. :tongue_smilie:

 

Yeah, it sent me for a loop this morning when I clicked on it and saw I'd replied. Thought I'd been sleep-posting for a minute!