I've been asked a number of times if the h sound needs to be represented in the pronunciation of the wh spelling. Is the word what, w-h-a-t, pronounced as what or hwhat? The short and simple answer is to pronounce the word as what, with no h sound. Then, is it pronounced aitch or Haitch?
For most English speakers, the name for the letter is pronounced as /e?t?/ and spelled "aitch" or occasionally "eitch". The pronunciation /he?t?/ and the associated spelling "haitch" is often considered to be h-adding and is considered nonstandard in England.
Similarly, is the H silent in hour? H is always silent in HONOUR, HOUR, HONEST, HEIR, VEHICLE & VEHEMENT. You don't say it after 'g' in GHOST, GHASTLY, AGHAST, GHERKIN & GHETTO, or after 'r' in RHINOCEROS, RHUBARB, RHYME and RHYTHM.
Correspondingly, is the H silent in human?
H is silent in many English words, for various reasons. Not all such words that have come into English from French still have a silent h, however. Over the centuries we have come to pronounce the h in words like horrible, hospital, host, human, and humour.
Why do we not pronounce the h in hour?
Because of the origin of “hour” and its Latin roots, the “h” is silent, in accordance with the original pronunciations. “House” has Germanic origins, so the 'h' is pronounced because the sound was present in earlier forms of the word.
Related Question Answers
Why do British say H wrong?
In Britain, H owes its name to the Normans, who brought their letter "hache" with them in 1066. Almost two thousand years later we are still split, and pronouncing H two ways: "aitch", which is posh and "right"; and "haitch", which is not posh and thus "wrong". Why do British say Zed?
The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century. What is a word that starts with an H?
Words Start With "H"
| Word | Type | Meaning |
| Halcyon | adjective | Happy and peaceful, tranquil, idyllic |
| Hallucinate | verb | See something which is not actually present, perception of sight, sounds etc which are not present |
| Hapless | adjective | Unlucky, unfortunate |
| Harangue | verb | Criticize aggressively, a long blustering speech |
How is the letter H pronounced in Australia?
How one should pronounce the eighth letter of the alphabet—H—is one such point of contention. In Australia, the common line of thinking seems to be there are two ways to pronounce it—'aitch', and 'haitch'. Do you pronounce the h in Thailand?
But then how come the Thai people pronunce it with the H? They don't. Thais aspirate the sound, pronouncing it with a puff of air that you hear as an "H". It's entirely different from the rather unusual dental fricatives spelled "th" in English. How do you spell Q?
Correct spelling for the English word "Q" is [kjˈuː], [kjˈuː], [k_j_ˈuː] (IPA phonetic alphabet). What is the spelling of 8?
Counting: Number Names to 100
Why can't Irish say th?
When Irish speakers first started learning English a few hundred years ago, they approximated the dh and th sounds to the d and t of their native language and that is how the accent of their dialect arose. That dialect is sometimes called Hiberno-English. Is H pronounced in Latin?
h is fully pronounced and never 'silent'. s is always as in "see" and never voiced as in "wise". ch represents Greek Χ χ (chi) and is nearly equal to a hard Latin "c", the only difference being that ch is aspirated (it is pronounced with an additional puff of air). What does H mean in math?
h: h is an abbreviation for height. Height: The distance from bottom to top. Heptagon: A polygon that has seven sides. Hypotenuse: The longest side in a right triangle. The longest side is the one opposite to the right angle. Why do you not pronounce the l in salmon?
Up to the end of the 15th century, the word "salmon" was spelled in English without an L, as derived from the Old French word "saumon." The spelling was later changed to be consistent with the Latin word for the fish, "salmo." Unfortunately, even though the spelling was changed, the French-influenced pronunciation Why is H silent in Spanish?
The silent, leading h exists for etymological reasons. As Vulgar Latin developed into Castilian, many (but not all) *f*s at the beginnings of words began to be pronounced as, and spelled with, h. Eventually, the sound represented by h was lost, but it remained in the spelling of words. Is H silent in hotel?
In the past, both “an hotel” and “a hotel” were commonly used because English words of French origin beginning with an “H” (such as “hotel”) used to be pronounced without it (so “hotel” would be pronounced just “otel”). There are other Hs that are truly silent (not pronounced at all in any form of the word). Is the H silent in Vehicle?
Note that the H in vehicle is silent. It's pronounced a bit like icicle, that's correct. That's why it's pronounced much like you wrote: viyikl. My phonetic version: VEE-IK-uhl. Why is W silent in write?
BEFORE the 17th century the 'w' was pronounced. Other letters ('g' in gnaw and 'k' in knee, for example) fell silent too, but were trapped in the spelling as written English fossilised into its present form. They are all of ancient Germanic origin and were pronounced in Anglo-Saxon. Is letter H always silent in Spanish?
Whenever a sound similar to the English "H" is found in Spanish it is spelled with the letter "J". "H" is always silent. What is silent in stomach?
Silent reflux is a condition in which stomach acid causes throat discomfort, especially behind the breastbone in the middle of the trunk. It does not always cause heartburn, but it can cause damage to the throat and vocal cords. The condition is always known as laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). What word has a silent l?
The most indecent of the silent l words is surely colonel. The word sounds identical to kernel, which is an honorable, respectfully spelled word. L is also silent in could, should, would, as well as in calf and half, and in chalk, talk, walk, and for many people in calm, palm, and psalm. Is H silent in Whistle?
For example, the coach uses his whistle to get the players' attention. This silent h is common in question words and a few other common words in English: why. what. Is the H in herb silent?
The British pronunciation is "Herbs" with an "H" while American pronunciation is "erbs" without the "H." Quite simple, eh? "Herb" or "erb," it's really your choice. Is the H in whale silent?
The "wh" in English used to be pronounced as "hw". So "whale" used to be pronounced "hwale". It comes from Anglo-Saxon. Some people still do pronounce them as "hwale" (whale), "hwite" (white) but I think they are now archaic. Why is H treated as a vowel?
The "h" is always silent, and most "h" words, like "homme", recognize the silence of the "h": therefore, the words act as if they start with a vowel, because when you're speaking they DO start with a vowel. 
