Joyce LionaronsFeb 25

Something I was wondering about this morning: native English speakers, do you pronounce initial [wh] and initial [w] differently? I.e., is there a difference in the way you pronounce 'which' and 'witch' or 'whether' and 'weather'?

Please boost for reach.

Yes
27.4%
No
67.9%
Huh?
4.8%
Poll ended at .
Show threadHighlandLawyer
@joyce
You might be interested in looking into Scots (language) & Scottish English on this. A lot of the words which went from Old English hw- to modern English wh-, in Scots were spelled quh-, and in some modern dialects (eg Aberdonian) are f- or in others retain the definite h sound, which often carries over into the relative Scottish English dialects.
Feb 25 at 1:04pmTusky
Show threadProto Himbo EuropeanFeb 28
@HighlandLawyer @joyce I'm aware of (but not familiar with) research on how linguistic and other cultural patterns from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, etc. were transferred to the USA in the past few hundred years by immigrants from those regions. Most of what I vaguely remember focused on these patterns still being noticeable (especially in music and some social customs) in Appalachia. Now I'm wondering if and how /Wh/ might appear in that space.