is it always like the sound in "house" or sometimes at the beginning it has no sound?
2006-08-29 06:46:13 · 6 answers · asked by badtz 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Most, probably 99% of the time, when you use an H, it sounds like the H in "house".
However, when used sometimes at the beginning of a word, it is silent. As someone mentioned earlier, in the use of the word "herb", it would be pronounced "erb", but if it's Herb, like in a name, then it IS pronounced with the "H" sound. It can also be silent in the MIDDLE of words as well. Like in the word "phone", where the "ph" makes an "F" sound instead of an "H" sound.
Another example would be a word like "honorary". Again, the H is silent, and you pronounce it like "on-or-airy". So, no, there's no particular rule that is like "if the H preceeds a vowel then it's silent" or anything like that, because if there was, then "house" would be pronounced "ouse".
I really don't know if there is a rule for the "silent H" or not. I don't believe there is.
English has NEVER been a totally phonetic language. We developed english from a mix of all languages, and in doing such, we've also brought along their pronunciations. That's why English is one of the hardest languages to learn, becuase essentially, you're learning small parts of the grammar and phonics of ALL languages.
2006-08-29 07:09:29 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
most commonly it is just air leaving the lungs with no hard consonant sound, kind of like a sigh, or a whisper. sometimes the H is silent. it would be good if you could hear it in action.
If you speak or have heard English before, you could try saying Houston.
Not sure if this is what you are looking for...?
2006-08-29 06:54:32 · answer #2 · answered by J Scott 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it usually sounds like that but with english there are exceptions to every rule.
2006-08-29 06:51:40 · answer #3 · answered by tpurtygrl 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
English is not a particularly phonetic language and so there is no rule for the pronunciation of the letter "H" ,it would depend on the word itself
2006-08-29 06:50:27 · answer #4 · answered by clairehair21 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It sometimes has no sound, like in herb. When "herb" is a man's name, then yes, it is pronounced as the "h" in house, but as a plant, it is like "erb", no H sound.
2006-08-29 06:52:31 · answer #5 · answered by AsianPersuasion :) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hetch?
2006-08-29 09:07:19 · answer #6 · answered by Hermit 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋