Aitch
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: aitch
The past tense of klim is klum. If you have klum out on a tree limb, don't saw it off between you and the trunk.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.
Re: aitch
bababoy56 wrote: <<Took me a second to realize he meant "climb" trees. He pronounced it KLIM.>>
Pity the non-native speaker trying to learn English, and looking at its spelling for clues to pronunciation. Silent consonants and inconsistent vowel pronunciation abound. Sight reading English is risk taking--like learning to climb out on a limb.
Pity the non-native speaker trying to learn English, and looking at its spelling for clues to pronunciation. Silent consonants and inconsistent vowel pronunciation abound. Sight reading English is risk taking--like learning to climb out on a limb.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: aitch
especially considering the nine (at least) pronunciations
of the letter combinations "-ough".
of the letter combinations "-ough".
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: aitch
through
cough
doughty
hough
sough
and one I forgot right at the present
cough
doughty
hough
sough
and one I forgot right at the present
-----please, draw me a sheep-----
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: aitch
It seems that this aitch thread has created a life of its own. Who'd of thunk it?
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: aitch
By the by, doesn't the t in aitch come from French? That's why we have Tchaikovsky instead of the more correct Chaikovsky. In fact, I gather that more and more often the latter is how the name is being printed these days.
Just to toss this out there: chaika means seagull in Russian.
Just to toss this out there: chaika means seagull in Russian.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
- Dr. Goodword
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Re: Aitch
All standard dictionaries give the spelling as aitch. Wikipedia and a few specialized dictionaries offer the alternative spelling, haitch, probably because they can't imagine the name of a letter not containing the letter itself. Except in dialects, the H must be pronounced in an accented syllable.
• The Good Dr. Goodword
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Aitch
Very interesting. So how do you pronounce 'H'? If some dictionaries spell it with an h at the start, and if accented syllables that start with an h should always have it pronounced, what does that mean for we mortals?
Taking your instruction literally, I suppose if we choose to spell it with an h at the start (and heaven forbid!) we must pronounce it. If not, then not. But this raises the question: Which came first the spoken word or its spelling? I guess most would agree that the spoken word came first. And on that basis we have to ask how it was pronounced when the alphabet was invented.
Oh dear! I am no nearer conclusion on this despite the learned contributions here.
Taking your instruction literally, I suppose if we choose to spell it with an h at the start (and heaven forbid!) we must pronounce it. If not, then not. But this raises the question: Which came first the spoken word or its spelling? I guess most would agree that the spoken word came first. And on that basis we have to ask how it was pronounced when the alphabet was invented.
Oh dear! I am no nearer conclusion on this despite the learned contributions here.
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Aitch
Talk about a can of worms! How H was pronounced when first invented? You don't want to go there. Ancient Hebrew played with glottal stops, making soft or voiceless K sounds.
And by the way, if you don't pronounce the H in H, does it become an A?
And by the way, if you don't pronounce the H in H, does it become an A?
pl
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Re: Aitch
Thanks for that Perry. The answer to your question about H becoming an A might be "Only if a W becomes a D"
- Slava
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Re: Aitch
Don't know if I've heard it, or just seen it written, but I do know of "clum" as a past tense. As in, "I dun clum dat dere tree."
I suppose the b could still be used, too: clumb.
I suppose the b could still be used, too: clumb.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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