The pronunciation of the letter 'H' has long been a subject of debate in Britain, with 'haitch' and 'aitch' both in common use. This linguistic divide is just one example of how spoken English is evolving, according to the British Library, which is launching a project to record how people pronounce words today.
The library's socio-linguist Jonnie Robinson is asking volunteers to read the opening paragraph of the Mr Men book Mr Tickle in their natural voice. The recordings will form part of the upcoming 'Evolving English' exhibition, which aims to show that pronunciation is a matter of fashion, not correctness.
Robinson notes that younger speakers are increasingly pronouncing 'harass' with the stress on the second syllable, making 'says' rhyme with 'lays', and turning 'mischievous' into a four-syllable word. These shifts reflect changing attitudes to class and speech, with less anxiety about 'proper' pronunciation than in the past.
The exhibition will also highlight historical changes, such as the BBC's 1928 pronunciation guide, which advised announcers that 'pristine' rhymed with 'wine' and 'combat' was pronounced 'cumbat'. Some of these recommendations were already outdated at the time.
While some changes, like 'schedule' becoming 'skedule', are attributed to American influence, others remain mysterious. The strong reactions to 'haitch' versus 'aitch' may stem from 'aitch anxiety'—a 19th-century trend of dropping the 'h' in words like 'hospital' and 'hotel', which later reversed as class associations shifted.
