Pedants' Paradise

[Pabmusic]

... It is very Irish - maybe only Southern Irish - to aspirate initial wh. Most British English accents don't do it, and I have heard it described by academic linguists as our old favourite, hypercorrection. Which makes me very cross.

It's interesting to remember that what, which and the like are Germanic. The Old English form was hwæt, hwic, etc., indicating an aspirate w.

[jean]

I should have said most British English accents don't do it any more.

What would Beowulf be without that initial Hwæt?

.

[french frank]

This is interesting. It is very Irish - maybe only Southern Irish - to aspirate initial wh. Most British English accents don't do it, and I have heard it described by academic linguists as our old favourite, hypercorrection. Which makes me very cross.

Some Scottish too.

And I've been trying to find what I remember as the motto of, hmm, Bp. Elphinstone(?) of Abdn to check the spelling. But can't. Something like:

They saie, qhuat saie they, lat them saie.

Also now names such as Urquhart and Farquhar/Farquharson keep the aspirate/guttural quality of the 'quh' - unlike in standard English where they become Erkut, Farker

(Had a discussion with a Scottish student who insisted that she always clearly pronounced the 'd' in Wed'n'sday (def not Wed-nes-day).

[Hitch]

This is interesting. It is very Irish - maybe only Southern Irish - to aspirate initial wh. Most British English accents don't do it, and I have heard it described by academic linguists as our old favourite, hypercorrection. Which makes me very cross.

A visitor to Britain might, in aping some natives, drop the (h)aitch and thus be guilty of 'ypercorrection.

[mangerton]

Some Scottish too.

And I've been trying to find what I remember as the motto of, hmm, Bp. Elphinstone(?) of Abdn to check the spelling. But can't. Something like:

They saie, qhuat saie they, lat them saie.

Also now names such as Urquhart and Farquhar/Farquharson keep the aspirate/guttural quality of the 'quh' - unlike in standard English where they become Erkut, Farker

(Had a discussion with a Scottish student who insisted that she always clearly pronounced the 'd' in Wed'n'sday (def not Wed-nes-day).

Yes, there are clearly two 'd's in "Wednesday", and I pronounce where, what, and which with a clear aspirate.

Your comment about "Farquhar" reminded me of this, from the brilliant "Scotland the What" team. It also makes reference to the "Menzies" discussion further up the thread.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes, there are clearly two 'd's in "Wednesday",

…and two "r"s in February.

[gurnemanz]

…and two "r"s in February.

Topical ref: Who here pronounces the "t" in Christmas?

[jean]

It's a bit hard to expect us to struggle with two when the italans and French have reduced them to one!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Topical ref: Who here pronounces the "t" in Christmas?

... or the "W" in "who/m/se"?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Topical ref: Who here pronounces the "t" in Christmas?

That's not the same as lazily substituting an "r" with a "y".

[french frank]

Yes, there are clearly two 'd's in "Wednesday", and I pronounce where, what, and which with a clear aspirate.

Your comment about "Farquhar" reminded me of this, from the brilliant "Scotland the What" team. It also makes reference to the "Menzies" discussion further up the thread.

But did naebiddy niver tell them it shud hae bin "Scotlan the Fit?"

[Old Grumpy]

This has probably been dealt with before.

Box set or boxed set?

I was disappointed to see this thread title on this forum of all fora.

OG

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I took that to be a pun on "dreambox", OG.

[Don Petter]

This has probably been dealt with before.

Box set or boxed set?

I was disappointed to see this thread title on this forum of all fora.

OG

I thought it was a reminder that all dreams are ephemeral, and eventually set like the sun.

[Serial_Apologist]

A visitor to Britain might, in aping some natives, drop the (h)aitch and thus be guilty of 'ypercorrection.

It's maybe worth mentioning the "haitch" pronunciation as being almost omnipresent amongst first generation West Indians. It used to be commonly assumed among cockneys by film makers in the 1950s, but as someone who as a child had a lot of cockney elocuted out of me back then, I don't recall this pronunciation feature, either in myself or my contemporaries as children brought up in west London.