English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
ENGLISH SOUND SYSTEM
Articulating the /h/ sound in Nigeria
*H-weakening*: This is the non-articulation of h in /h/-full words. Many Nigerians unconsciously omit the /h/ sound in words such as house, head, hinge, height and heart. In these words and others in the category, the /h/ sound should be articulated, and the article ‘a’ should precede the words. In effect, we have ‘a hungry man’, ‘a heroic feat’, ‘a house’, ‘a haircut’ and so forth.
*H-restoration*: By striking contrast, this is the articulation of h in /h/-less words. This is usually born out of spelling-induced pronunciation. Words in this category are heir, hour, honest and honour. By reason of the reality that the /h/ sound is silent (an aphthong) in these words, the appropriate article that precedes them is ‘an’, since the letters after h produce vowel sounds. In accordance with that, one should say, ‘an honest driver’, ‘an heir to a throne’, ‘an hour’s time’ and ‘an honour’.
*H-dropping*: This accounts for words where the /h/ sound is a variant. Thus, the sound is either dropped or retained in such words. Quintessential examples are ‘hotel’, ‘historic’ and ‘historical’. As a matter of fact, native speakers often used to refrain from enunciating the ‘h’ in ‘hotel’, ‘historic’ and ‘historical’, in the 18th and 19th centuries, thereby necessitating the use of ‘an hotel’, ‘an historic occasion’ and ‘an historical novel’. In contemporary standard English, though, the ‘h’ is now articulated by a preponderant percentage of native speakers.Consequentially, we have ‘a hotel’, ‘a historic event’ and ‘a historical document’. Having taken that into account, the readership should note that while the older version is not altogether inappropriate, it is advisable to always apply the contemporary variant (a hotel, a historical setting, a historic development), just to be on the safe side (not ‘at the safer side’).
*H-insertion*: This is the use of the /h/ sound in /h/-less words. This is predominately used by second-language users of English, who vocalise words such as ‘egg’, ‘average’, ‘order’ and a repertoire of other /h/-less words with the /h/ sound. Speakers of English must make a deliberate attempt to avoid the unwitting articulation of the /h/ sound in those words.
GAB
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