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I was just wondering if this is something that has been around forever and I am just now noticing it, and therefore hearing it everywhere, or if this is a new trend or an expansion of a regional use. I've noticed lately a lot of people saying words like huge, humor, and human as if they started with a Y instead of a hard H. On a similar note, I've also noticed the word "resources" pronounced "rezources." For whatever reason, these really irk me, especially when I hear things like "yuge rezources."
I hear it quite a bit from foreign correspondents, but just chalked it up to English being their 2nd language. Now, though, I hear it all the time from native, American English speakers. Anyone have any information about how long this has been going on? Thanks.
I think maybe it has been around forever. When I was a kid in the 50s, I noticed that my grandmother answered the phone, "yello". Of course my siblings and cousins and I all made a joke about this. At the time I thought that she was the only one anywhere who said this but since then I have notice many people say not only "yello" but many of the same words you have noticed. I can give no reason for it but it has been common for a long time.
Listening to a podcast this morning, I could not help but remark the pronunciation of the outstanding NPR host of Fresh Air, Terry Gross. In an interview of comedienne Sarah Silverman, Terry pronounced the following words in close proximity, all unaspirated:
humor /yumÉ/ vs. /Ê°yumÉ, hyumÉ/
humorous /yuməɾəs/ vs. /ʰyuməɾəs, hyuməɾəs/
humiliation /yumɪliyeʃən/ vs. /ʰyumɪliyeʃən, hyumɪliyeʃən/
While I associate Terry Gross with Philadelphia (WHYY), it turns out she was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
Terry Gross Bio
Terry Gross Interviews Sarah Silverman
Since Silverman was born and raised in New Hampshire, Gross's pronunciation is often in direct contrast with Silverman's as they discuss her humor and humiliation.
At the risk of picking nits, I must point out the the y sound is predominant in the pronunciation of all such hu- words, even when they are aspirated. The pronunciation of humor /Ê°yumÉ, hyumÉ/as contrasted with rumor /rumÉ/ has a distinct y sound before the u vowel. Rumor may be pronounced like roomer, but humor is not pronounced like *hoomer. (Compare who and the aspirated pronunciation of hue.) It is precisely this strong y sound that overtakes any initial aspiration in some dialects. The y sound does not "appear" in some dialects instead of the aspiration; the (weak?) aspiration simply disappears, leaving the strong y as the initial sound.
[Edit: added the following]
As a side note, the wh- words were once spelled hw-, and universally pronounced with an initial aspiration /hw/ or /Ê°w/. Now, for most native speakers, the wh- is pronounced identically to w- (c.f. whale, wail) in most contexts. ( Labov, U. Penn., The maintenance of the /hw/~/w/ contrast.) Notable exceptions: In some contexts for all speakers, specifically before some rounded vowel sounds, wh- took the opposite path, and the /h/ took over completely while the /w/ was lost: c.f. who, whole vs. whopper, whoosh (!)
I should mention in passing the many situations in which the aspiration in words with initial h- is lost entirely: hour, herb (Am.), honor, heir, etc. I should also mention the many situations in which initial u in spelling is spoken with an initial y sound: use, usury, urine, usurp, etc. Compare use (v.), with yous (dial. pl. of you), and with ooze.
So clearly, the loss of initial /h/ aspiration, be it complete, widespread, or regional, is well attested in English throughout the history of the language and, while interesting, need not be stigmatized.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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