3 ms·
Some English speakers pronounce "w" differently than "wh". They will say sth that sounds like "hwhen" instead of "when" for example. I think it's a dialect thin
by ajuc 5y ago
Some English speakers pronounce "w" differently than "wh". They will say sth that sounds like "hwhen" instead of "when" for example. I think it's a dialect thing I only met like 5 people online who spoke like that but they were all native English speakers so it must be correct?
- Veen 5y agoIt’s “correct” but quite rare. The wh was originally a digraph pronounced with a voiceless labial–velar, but but most variants of English have undergone what linguists call the whine-wine merger so those words sound the same. Exceptions are Scots, Irish, and some Southern US varieties.
- ajuc 5y agoThe guys I met are from Canada.
- blackshaw 5y agoObligatory Family Guy link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMopBpOfv_E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMopBpOfv_E I'm not sure I've ever met anyone in real life who says "hwen", "hwere", etc., although you can hear it in some Johnny Cash songs. I'm not sure exactly where in America you can hear it - is it a southern thing? You'll never hear anyone say "hwen" in the UK.
- aasasd 5y agoIIRC the ‘History of English’ podcast mentions that pronunciation like ‘hwat’ was the norm either in Old English or before that. Then it changed, and the spelling was changed accordingly.