The alphabet and 'H'.

[Thatbliddywoman]

So we say
Ay.
Bee
Sea
Dee
Ee
Eff
Jee
Aitch. Except we don't. We say 'Haitch'.
Why?
We make the aitch have its own letter as the sound of the word for it
We don't do that with any other letter. Why H?
We don't say 'wubbleyew' do we, It's 'doubleyew'?
I don't understand it.

It's not just a irish thing. Plenty of people in UK say haitch.

I think you must have some insecurities if you get all twisted up about someone pronunciating something differently to you.

I'm irish and say "aitch' (maybe it's because in Quaker ). Anyway, everyone about me says "haitch", never once, not ever have I been corrected, or even had it commented on.

The insecurity in the 'correct' way seems to be an uniquely English thing. It certainly ot one that covers the entire country either. Can't help but conclude it's a class insecurity.

I think aitch typically considered more correct but I stubbornly say haitch

Partly becuase my name begins with a haitch and I dont like it when people don't pronounce the first letter!

Those who use "aitch"
When saying a name for example Harriet or Harry do you drop the "haitch" to pronounce it Arriet or Arry.

Do people who insist it's aitch also talk about staying in an hotel?

It's aitch. Just another delightful quirk of the English language.

It isn't ignorant to pronounce a word the way it is spelt. Rather stupid to think otherwise.

1. All dialects of English are reasonably non-phonetic, so day in day out we all pronounce words in ways other than how they are spelt.

1. In Hiberno-English the letter in question is spelt haitch.

Please stop with your deeply ignorant and honestly racist remarks.

Those who use "aitch"
When saying a name for example Harriet or Harry do you drop the "haitch" to pronounce it Arriet or Arry.

Do people who insist it's aitch also talk about staying in an hotel?

No, because we're talking about the specific name of the letter, rather than the sound it generally makes when used in words. Just like you'd pronounce the letter 'U' as 'yoo', but nobody would ever say 'yoombrella'.

I said “aitch”

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams

Yes, we say j to rhyme with eye, not jay to rhyme with kay. So it sort of makes sense when you hear someone say the whole alphabet.

I'm Scottish but I live down South and I always have to pause and think "eye, j-eye, kay, no it's jay" here

the specific name of the letter

In standard English as used in England and Wales, at least. I don't know about Scotland, whether they mirror those of us to the south or to the south-west.

I really, really can't get excited by how people pronounce H.

An hotel is probably correct though. And an historian. Even though it sounds ridiculous!

@Smallsteps88

Exactly! So gee is fine!

I have a 5 yo, it wouldn't pass their phonetics teacher 😁😁but yes

I had a row with DCs teacher once when a homophones homework was marked incorrect for not matching poor and pour. We are in Northern Ireland and they are most certainly not homophones here. I think I was declared “that parent” after that.

@alittleprivacy

It isn't ignorant to pronounce a word the way it is spelt. Rather stupid to think otherwise.

1. All dialects of English are reasonably non-phonetic, so day in day out we all pronounce words in ways other than how they are spelt.

1. In Hiberno-English the letter in question is spelt haitch.

Please stop with your deeply ignorant and honestly racist remarks.

Lighten up, pet. Tongue in cheek.

@SerenDippitty

Do people who insist it's aitch also talk about staying in an hotel?

Um. yes.

Daughter of an English teacher ...

"An hotel" is a much bigger sin than "haitch".

Lighten up, pet. Tongue in cheek.

@FlySheMust

There's not much 'light' about your ongoing offensive comments & your efforts then to say 'oh, just joking' are simply embarrassing.

@DeeTractor

"An hotel" is a much bigger sin than "haitch".

It's actually correct to say 'an hotel'; many people do.

Doesn't bother me if they don't tho.

@FlySheMust I'm a daughter of an English teacher too.

My favourite smug thing is to say is “an homage”.

I imagine everyone who says aitch says it smugly tbh, is it just me?

@EarringsandLipstick

Lighten up, pet. Tongue in cheek.

@FlySheMust

There's not much 'light' about your ongoing offensive comments & your efforts then to say 'oh, just joking' are simply embarrassing.

You do go on. Do stop, you're looking a bit silly now.

All those posters who are apoplectic at the use of haitch I suggest never going to Jamaica. H's dropping and being added all over the shop. You'd have to lie down for a week to recover!

It's actually correct to say 'an hotel'; many people do.

It is equally correct (and tbh more natural sounding) to say "a hotel".

I was raised on "aitch" as one of my mother's many personal quirks about being better than "common folk", something she got from her own mother!

My daughter learned "haitch" from an infant school teacher and I confess it grates on me because of my upbringing but does seem to be more prevalent these days.