Re: Herbivore,
etc.
Posted by R. Berg on January 10, 2002
at In Reply to: Re: Dropped H's posted by
New Yorker on January 10, 2002
: : : : : : Dropping H's from the
front of words is generally considered a 'no-no'. It caused me years of frustration
in the UK where I searched in vain for the location of places like 'atfield, and
scowered the dictionary looking for the word 'ump - as in "She got the 'ump because
we were late."
: : : : : : Now that I am back on the other side of the pond,
I am bothered by the word 'herb'. In American English it is considered proper
to drop the 'H' from the front of the word. It is also dropped from the word herbage.
And yet - and this is where it gets weird - it is not properly dropped from the
words, 'herbaceous', 'herbal' or 'herbalist'.
: : : : : : Does anyone have
any idea why the 'h' is dropped or why the inconsistency? I'm also interested
to know whether there are any other words in American English that follow the
same principle? I can't think of any.
: : : : : It is not dropped from the
pronunciation of the word herbicide, either. On the other hand, contrary to your
observation, the beginning 'h' sound is often dropped from the word herbal, at
least in my experience here in the midwestern U.S.
: : : The US being such a
melee of cultural/linguistic influences, I wouldn't be surprised if this had something
to do with the fact that in some european languages 'h's are silent. E.g. in spanish,
h's are silent, and the english 'h' sound is denoted by a 'j'. e.g. 'hola' - pronounced
ola, 'joder' pronounced Hod-air.
: : : Added to the ways h's and f's are almost
interchangable at the start of words - 'hierro/fierro - iron , horno/forno - oven'
- and we've got some serious confusion for non-natives!
: : I know a few people
who are university-trained plant scientists, and a few people who consider themselves
knowledgeable about the use of herbs for natural healing and the like. The latter
group seems to mistrust the former. It has something to do with the perception
that the former too readily embraces Western scientific practices and too easily
dismisses Eastern ones. The latter group tends to drop the beginning 'h' sound
from words like herbal. The former group seems less likely to do that. I've wondered
if the latter group has made an effort to distinguish itself from the former in
this way, or perhaps has even adopted the dropped 'h' as a means of attaining
credibility. Here in the Midwest, dropped h's tend to signify that one is not
a "local," and of course an expert, by definition, is someone who lives over 100
miles away.
: It does not surprise me that people in the Midwest consider experts
as those living more than 100 miles away; experience may well have shaped this
opinion.
'Ere's another 'ypothesis: Those who study herbs in an academic setting
see and hear related scientific words like "herbivore," "herbarium," and "herbaceous"--in
which the "h" must be sounded--more often than those outside the university whose
interest in herbs has to do with their uses in infusions and poultices. The former
group therefore has more occasion to be troubled by the missing "h" sound.
The
entry for "herb" in Webster's 2nd, 1934, includes this note: "The historical pronunciation
is 'urb,' which still prevails in the best usage in the United States, although
'hurb' is also used. In England 'hurb' has increased in use since about 1800,
and now apparently prevails in the best usage."
For "herbage," "herbal," and
"herbman," Webster gives both pronunciations.
Question: Do U.K. speakers who
drop initial h's drop them before all vowel sounds or only before a subset of
vowel sounds?
- Re: Herbivore, etc. The Fallen
01/10/02 (3)
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