Is Haich the new Aich? (for the letter H)

[weekendalmostover]

For the second year in a row, first in Y1 and now Y2, my DS has a teacher who says "Haich" rather than "Aich". In both cases the teachers have been new to the school. I always correct him at home, but he insists that is what his teacher is saying. Has it become more acceptable these days or have we just been unlucky? Somehow it would seem rude to ask the teacher about it directly.

I have wondered if the reason the h is hardly ever dropped at the beginning of words in any dialect in Ireland is because we always pronounce it as 'haitch'.

What's wrong with "pardon"? Or are you saying we should say "I beg your pardon?"

I'm with Bridget Jones's mother: "Don't say 'what', say 'pardon'."

Aitch doesn't start with one, and ain't ain't in the dictionary.

Who cares. Next.

"Who cares? Are you really worrying about how your child pronounces a word they will almost never use?"

Nope, it's not a big deal. I just wanted a straw poll of opinion. I was told "haitch" was wrong as a child, and haven't heard it again until now. Back then we didn't have the internet, and couldn't do much more than follow the advice of parents and teachers. These days we can get a wider view, so its interesting to read different perspectives.

My DS probably won't ever need to use it in the future, unless he becomes a primary school teacher. Now that I've done this little bit of research, I'll pass it on to him and perhaps if he does become a teacher he will explain to his class that some folk pronounce "Aitch" as "Haitch". If it's widespread in Ireland and elsewhere, then in my view its not much different to explaining that Americans pronounce "Zed" (Z) as "Zee".