To ask you how you say the letter 'H'???

[NowSissyThatWalk]

Okay.
So this may have been done to death, but I am a woman close to the edge.
I pronounce the letter H as 'Aitch', not
pronouncing any 'H' sound at the start.
I have always been told this is the 'right' way to pronounce it, and so it's stuck.
But I seem to never hear anyone ever saying it like this and instead pronounce the 'H', as 'Haitch'.
I can't take much more of it. My DP says 'Haitch' and corrects me every time I don't.
I should LTB shouldn't I????

It only matters if you think correct English matters, I suppose. I think it does.

I agree.

Absolutely "aitch."

It's also har-rass not harris

Haitchers set my teeth on edge.

Ask your local or resident Haitcher how they pronounce the abbreviations for National Health Service or Ultra Heat Treated or British Home Stores.

I never knew the sectarian thing so am surprised by this.
I don't hear haitch much though, I did think it was just a regional thig but wasn't exactly sure from where.

It only matters if you think correct English matters, I suppose. I think it does.

No. It only matters if you subscribe to the xenophobic view that some dialects of a language are inherently superiors to others.

Given that the aitch/haitch distinction breaks across national, religious, and class lines, insisting that "aitch" is a superior pronunciation is therefore inherently racist (yes, that is the correct term for discrimination based on nationality as well as religion: check the Equality Act) and/or classist.

It's fine to say that either aitch or haitch sounds a bit weird to you because you only ever hear the other pronunciation. It's not fine to say that haitch is wrong, awful, uneducated, a bit thick, lower class, or anything else derogatory: that's where it becomes racist and/or classist.

Ask your local or resident Haitcher how they pronounce the abbreviations for National Health Service or Ultra Heat Treated or British Home Stores.

Enn-Haitch-Ess.

You-Haitch-Tee.

Bee-Haitch-Ess.

Aitch is Standard English and what I say. Haitch is Irish English. Say what you like, but it's pretty odd if you're English and using Irish English pronunciation. Why would you do that??

I say aitch. (EastMidsMummy, I think you mean 'standard British/UK English' in this instance, not standard English as opposed to Irish English!).

Someone further up put 'haitch' into the same category as the dreadful 'would of'. Not at all. 'Haitch' is essentially a regional variation, 'would of' is an incorrect written rendering of a colloquial pronunication.

Aitch here. I think it might be difficult when dealing with colloquialisms.

DH says "jie" (to rhyme with pie") for J - does that enrage people?

I love hearing that - first heard it in Glasgow and was totally amazed.

What about American "zee" for Z?
Don't mind it when I am in the US - less of a fan when it's here although it seems very prevalent here - I've (to reference and earlier post) even heard that on BBC radio too.

'Haitch' is essentially a regional variation,

Except as we've demonstrated in this thread, people using each version are scattered all over mainland Britain.

I said essentially. It seems to me it crops up in a large range of dialects (and sociolects as well, yes). And it's not the prestige pronunciation, as has become apparent on here. But that doesn't translate to 'uneducatedness'.

I disagree, geeka.

It is not inherently racist, classist or any other -ist to say that something is wrong. As in 'incorrect'. It is just factual.

The use of a double negative in English, as in 'I ain't done nothing wrong', also 'breaks along national, religious and class lines'. It's also grammatically wrong.

Throwing around accusations of xenophobia and racism is ridiculous. It is perfectly possible to simultaneously believe that a) I am in no way superior to group X, and b) thing Y (which coincidentally is commonly used among group X) is incorrect.

Exactly. It's not a regional variation. It's simply incorrect.

Koala H isn't incorrect in Hiberno-English; its etymology was explained upthread. But keep on insisting that the vast majority of people in Ireland are wrong, if you like. It just makes your ignorance of a recognised variation of the English language all the more apparent.

aitch

Maud

It's aitch. People who say haitch are also likely, ime, to say We'll honly be an 'alf hour.

Do I care? Not really. Should they? Not really unless they want people to realise they aren't as posh as they'd like to be. Hyacinth and Sally Webster types abound.

Geeka am I right in thinking you are a public sector policy twonk?

Your rather derogatory attempt to convey a Cockney accent entirely misses my point, Beau. As do your references to Hyacinth Bucket or Sally Webster.

Never mind, I know some people can't conceive of life beyond little England.

I say We'll only be a half hour.
Maud theres no point trying.

Beau

You must get out more.

What you describe sounds suspiciously like something from a 1950s Ealing Comedy

I rally should

The fact that a non-standard pronunciation is used more commonly than not in one English-speaking country does not make it correct.

As an Australian (not a citizen of 'little England' after all!), I should know.

Haitch makes me itch.

Aitch is proper pronounciation

'Pronounciation' makes me itch.