Should the h in herb be silent?
The British pronunciation is "Herbs" with an "H" while American pronunciation is "erbs" without the "H." Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. "Herb" or "erb," it's really your choice.
Thus they leave the "h" silent in herb, just as the French do. Similarly, they pronounce the "ee" in divorcee as "ay".
Answer. Answer: The Americans have picked this up from Norman- French. "Herb" is a word that would have been very commonly used by the French, so that is why it would have stuck, as oppose to other words in the American dialect such as "helicopter."
The British pronunciation is "Herbs" with an "H" while American pronunciation is "erbs" without the "H." Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. "Herb" or "erb," it's really your choice.
If the word begins with a vowel SOUND, the article is “an” (as in “an apple,” “an hour,” “an honor,” “an herb,” “an umbrella”). If the word begins with a consonant SOUND, the article is “a” (as in “a hotel,” “a house,” “a utopia,” “a unit,” “a university,” “a use,” “a European,” “a one-time offer,” “a once-over”).
Yet the British did not start pronouncing the "h" until the late 19th century, when compulsory education taught spelling and pronunciation reflected the word's letters. To this day, Americans, and about 50 per cent of Canadians, retained the older pronunciation.
Pretty much all Americans pronounce 'thyme' sans h, the same way we say “time.” It wasn't until I found out there are some parts of the UK where they actually do pronounce it like “thime” that I started second-guessing the proper way to pronounce this herb.
Zee became the standard way to pronounce Z in the United States in the 19th century. It's said that zee most likely came about because it rhymes with other letter pronunciations in the English alphabet (e.g., e, d, c, b, g, and p).
- affidavit [af-i-dey-vit]
- almond [ah-muh nd, am-uh nd]
- beget [bih-get]
- cache [kash]
- caramel [kar-uh-muh l, -mel, kahr-muh l]
- coupon [koo-pon, kyoo-]
- croissant [French krwah-sahn; English kruh-sahnt]
- epitome [ih-pit-uh-mee]
Food vlogger Adam Ragusea ponders why people in the United States don't pronounce the “h” in the word “herbs” while people who speak British English do. He explains that the English word came from the French “herbe”, a language that is not particularly fond of pronouncing that letter.
Is the H silent in hotel?
a/an + H. The rule goes that the article 'a' is used before a consonant and 'an' is used before a vowel, so with silent H we would say “an honest” and with pronounced H we would say “a hotel”.
Is O silent in oregano? How do you pronounce "oregano"? Oregano comes to English from the Spanish orégano and is pronounced o-REG-ano, not or-e-GAN-o as most English speakers seem to pronounce it.
In American English, it's an herb since the “h” is silent. In Britain, by contrast, the “h” is typically sounded, so they say “a herb”. Remember, the rule for using “a” or “an” is based on pronunciation, not spelling.
Herbs starting by the letter H include: Hawthorn, Hops, Horehound, Horsetail, Hydrangea, Hyssop and Horse Chestnut.
Wondering why herb is 1 syllable?
The reason why so many words in American English end up being mispronounced, even by highly educated native speakers, is because English isn't phonetic. Letters don't have a 1-to-1 relationship with sounds. This word is 'love', Uh vowel. This word is 'move' OO vowel.
herb (countable and uncountable, plural herbs)
H, or h, is the eighth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is aitch (pronounced /ˈeɪtʃ/, plural aitches), or regionally haitch /ˈheɪtʃ/.
Exceptions: Most of the words beginning with H are not silent (remember to use the article “a” with voiced H) For example history, history, hair, happy. The letter K is always silent when it precedes the letter N in a word.
However, in today's word the H appears in an accented syllable, so it should be pronounced. Still, if you are from the US South, you may pronounce today's word umble. It's OK if you do. The noun that fits this adjective is humility.
Why do people pronounce Herbs?
The word was originally a borrowing from the French word herbe (where h is a silent letter); Britons developed the habit of pronouncing the h, whilst Americans stuck to the original French pronunciation (or, at least, as close as American accents permit). The same reason the 'h' in hour isn't pronounced.
Why do Americans and Canadians pronounce herbs as 'urbs'? It sounds very strange to a visitor. I think it depends on where you come from in Canada. Quebec, being French, would say 'erb.
Mom and Mommy are old-English words, words that are stilled used in Birmingham and most parts of the West Midlands. It is said that when people from the West Midlands went to America many years ago they took the spelling with them, hence Americans use Mom and Mommy.
Bloody. Don't worry, it's not a violent word… it has nothing to do with “blood”.”Bloody” is a common word to give more emphasis to the sentence, mostly used as an exclamation of surprise. Something may be “bloody marvellous” or “bloody awful“. Having said that, British people do sometimes use it when expressing anger…
'Innit? ' is a contraction of the tag question 'Isn't it? ' and people use it to prompt a response from the listener. So if someone says 'Nice weather, innit?
Words Southerners Say Weird
caint - can't (I caint do that.) fitt'in - fixing to, about to (I'm fitt'in to buy one.) fitty - fifty (Can I borrow fitty cents?) i'moan - I am going to (I'moan go to that game.)
Djibouti. Spelling this East African country is almost as difficult as pronouncing it, thanks to the silent "d" and the "i" that sounds like an "a." The one and only way to say Djibouti is "Ja-BOO-tee." And for more nations that are hard to spell, These Are the Most Misspelled Countries in the World.
The American Chemical Society adopted “aluminum” because of how widely it was used by the public, but the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially designated the metal as “aluminium” as recently as 1990.
When you say that you couldn't care less about something, it means that you are not at all concerned about it; it doesn't matter to you.
In Britain, H owes its name to the Normans, who brought their letter "hache" with them in 1066. Hache is the source of our word "hatchet": probably because a lower-case H looks a lot like an axe. It has certainly caused a lot of trouble over the years.
How do chefs pronounce cumin?
Fun Cumin Facts
Most dictionaries suggest that the pronunciation is 'come-in,' although most professional chefs pronounce it 'coo-min' or 'que-min'.
A plant whose sweet-smelling leaves are often used as a herb in Italian cooking is basilico (masculine, plural basilichi), which is the word for basil. In the Tuscan dialect, it is pronounced with a double s (bassilico).
For example, in the U.S., the word “basil” is pronounced “bay-zle.” But in England, it is pronounced “baa-zle,” like the word “dazzle.” In the U.S., “schedule” is pronounced with a “sk” sound at the beginning, but in England, it's pronounced with a “sh” sound.
Repeat after me: The “H” is not silent. Kah-Meh-Ha-Meh-Ha. The King Kamehameha Statue in front of Ali'iolani Hale in Honolulu.
The words hour and honest come from French, and in these cases English took over the French pronunciation as well as the word. Not all such words that have come into English from French still have a silent h, however.
“Mayo” of course is short for “mayonnaise”, a word featuring three pronounced syllables and a long a sound in the first syllable followed up almost immediately with a long o sound. The latter sound should always be clearly audible in your pronunciation provided you are saying the word correctly.
The letter ⟨h⟩ most often marks a ⟨c⟩/⟨g⟩ as hard (velar), as in spaghetti, where it would otherwise be soft (palatal), as in cello, because of a following front vowel (⟨e⟩ or ⟨i⟩).
An "h" may be used to prevent the "g" from being soft, as in spaghetti, but there is no need for an "h" in the mentioned proper names. The "h" in "Lamborghini" has exactly the same function as the "h" in "spaghetti". See also ghost, burgh, gingham, sorghum.
Pretty much all Americans pronounce 'thyme' sans h, the same way we say “time.” It wasn't until I found out there are some parts of the UK where they actually do pronounce it like “thime” that I started second-guessing the proper way to pronounce this herb.
Why do some Americans pronounce herb as erb? The word's origin is French, and there the “h” is silent. US speakers tend to keep that silent H. British speakers tend to make the pronunciation more purely English, and pronounce the H.
Why H is silent in hour and honest?
The words hour and honest come from French, and in these cases English took over the French pronunciation as well as the word. Not all such words that have come into English from French still have a silent h, however.
a/an + H. The rule goes that the article 'a' is used before a consonant and 'an' is used before a vowel, so with silent H we would say “an honest” and with pronounced H we would say “a hotel”.
However, in today's word the H appears in an accented syllable, so it should be pronounced. Still, if you are from the US South, you may pronounce today's word umble. It's OK if you do. The noun that fits this adjective is humility.
It means without intention or because of chance instead of effort or purpose. On accident is a variation found almost exclusively inside the United States. It is grammatically on par with the phrase on purpose. One can either do something on purpose or on accident.
3. "Gyros" [jahy-roh] Locals have added their NYC flair to the pronunciation of the Greek dish which is actually pronounced as "yee-roh".
In standard AE, the "h" in huge, human, etc. is always pronounced. Yes, it can sound much like the ich-Laut, or it can be softer, but these words are always aspirated. 2. There is a regional variation in pronouncing the "h" in "herb".
H is mute at the beginning of many words (remember to use the article “an” with unvoiced H). For example, hour, honest, honour, heir. Exceptions: Most of the words beginning with H are not silent (remember to use the article “a” with voiced H) For example history, history, hair, happy.
If an “L” is found towards the end of the word, before the letters “f,” “v”, “k” and “m,” but after the letter “a,” then it's usually silent (behalf, calve, walk, almond). In many of these instances, the silent L lengthens the previous vowel sound, which gives the slight impression of the “L” /l/ sound.
