What kind of people pronounce "wh" with a "hw" sound?

Question

Is there a certain accent or dialect or group of people that pronounce the letters "wh" at the beginning of some words like "hw?"

Example:
Instead of pronouncing the word "whimsical" - WIMsical, they say "HWIMsical."

Why is this done?

Answer 1

Yes. This used to be the norm in English (or much of English), but long ago MOST dialects underwent what's called the "wine-whine merger" so that the 'aspiration' --the 'h' pronounced at the beginning is lost and the two pairs already listed are pronounced identically: (also: weather/whether, Wales/whalesetc)

The places where [ for them its "hwere" vs. "wear"] this persists are Scotland, much of Ireland and a few places in the Southeastern U.S. (perhaps some in Canada?)

I know wikipedia isn't always solid, but this particular summary seems to be, and may make is clearer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_wh#Wine-whine_merger

(I live in the Norheast, where we do NOT distinguish, but unfortunately, had an 8th grade reading teacher who got after me to do so. I didn't get what it was all about for years... she came from the South!)

Answer 2

I'm not sure if it's just an accent. Some older people I know believe it is the correct way to pronounce it. It might have just been the way they were brought up.

Answer 3

i dont really know. but my teacher says "where" like "hwhere" so maybe teachers talk like that?