Why do so many people say Haitch?
In Britain, H apparently owes its “haitch” pronunciation to the Catholic Normans, who brought the old French word “hache” with them when they invaded in 1066. With aitch and haitch, it still seems to be linked to the speaker's religion. According to Rosen, “haitch” is the Catholic way and “aitch” is the Protestant way.
One theory goes that it's because the “haitch” pronunciation was associated with Irish Catholic immigrants who came here. Because they were typically working-class and associated with a lower level of education, this pronunciation was thus deemed of “lower quality”.
Haitch is logical but not socially acceptable. Again history plays its part. In Australia the haitch pronunciation has been linked with Irish Catholics, the Marist Brothers in particular, although no real research has been done into this and it may well be hearsay or at best circ*mstantial.
H-dropping or aitch-dropping is the deletion of the voiceless glottal fricative or "H-sound", [h]. The phenomenon is common in many dialects of English, and is also found in certain other languages, either as a purely historical development or as a contemporary difference between dialects.
The two variants used to mark the religious divide in Northern Ireland – aitch was Protestant, haitch was Catholic, and getting it wrong could be a dangerous business.
A mixture of hypercorrection and influence from speakers of other varieties of English, particularly speakers of Irish English. The hypercorrection came about because 'h-dropping' in English, for example, saying 'I'm 'appy' instead of 'I'm happy' was stigmatised and considered incorrect.
A good number of Australians hate it when people refer to the letter "h" as “haitch”. They hate it with a passion. While the “haitch” pronunciation is often linked to Irish Catholic education in times when Australian society was divided along sectarian lines, no research has conclusively established its true history.
In Northern Ireland the Catholic population is distinguished from the Protestant by the former saying 'haitch' and the latter 'aitch'.
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/.
'Haitch' (the thinking goes) has no place in proper Australian English: it's a feature of some varieties of Irish English, was brought to Australia by Irish Catholic educators in the mid-19th and early-20th centuries, and serves as a marker of Irish Catholic education.
Why do Irish people say Haitch?
In Northern Ireland the Catholic population is distinguished from the Protestant by the former saying 'haitch' and the latter 'aitch'. 'Haitch' is the way Catholic primary schools teach H in the alphabet and therefore may well have Papal authority as correct!
Haitch has the pedigree
Deriving from medieval French hache or “axe” (hatchet and hashtag are relatives), it also arrived in English H-less (like humble and herb). It's a curious letter name being, as the Oxford English Dictionary describes, “so remote from any connection with the sound”.
