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I would like to know and to get some information about the pronunciation of the word "honest".

Some people told me that it's pronounced without the first letter "h" (as if: onest) but some told me that it's pronounced with the "h" as a full form pronunciation (honest). Who's right? or does it depend on the country?

Virtuous Legend
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    Where were they from? That might give you a clue. – user3169 Jun 17 '16 at 02:45
  • Its phonetics is /ˈɒnɪst/, so it has vowel sound. – Schwale Jun 17 '16 at 02:47
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    Did the person actually say "honest", or did this person simply mention that it should be "honest"? – Em. Jun 17 '16 at 02:50
  • Up until the late 19th century there was a perception that words shouldn't start with a vowel, so lots of words which start with a vowel sound were spelt with a leading, but silent, h. However, from the late 19th century or early 20th century most English speakers (Londoners excepted) started to aspirate most of these leading hs. This is why we write, for example, "an historian" - because when English grammar took printed form it was pronounced "an istorian". So I guess that 'honest' is one of the words which hasn't taken on this modern form. – awj Jun 17 '16 at 09:05
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    @awj The spelling of a/an historian depends on how one pronounces it, there is no "grammatical" rule that defines that it should be an historian. It simply depends on the local pronunciation. – oerkelens Jun 17 '16 at 09:18
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    @awj this Q/A on ELU disagrees with your assumption. I'm not saying there are no people who spell a(n) historian at odds with their pronunciation, but that is surely not because of some grammatical rule. – oerkelens Jun 17 '16 at 09:33
  • @oerkelens - I pointed out what I thought was an interesting historical titbit about English words beginning with h (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/a-historic-event-or-an-historic-event), I wasn't looking for a debate about notoriously mutable English grammar. You can argue which is right and wrong but I was simply pointing out the historical reason for this even being discussed today. That's why I said that pronunciations change quickly in time - particularly across locales - whereas that which is printed changes much more slowly. This disparity produces these very debates. – awj Jun 17 '16 at 09:59
  • It would not be honourable to pronounce 'honest' with an aitch –  Jun 17 '16 at 10:17
  • @awj when I read your explanation, it sounds as if you're saying hs were added to words simply because they started with vowel sounds. But we don't say "happle" or "hevery"—words like "honest" and "historian" were given initial hs because the the Latin words they descend from were once pronounced and written with initial hs. – Dan Getz Jun 17 '16 at 17:55
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    There was no committee which decided which words would have h added and which wouldn't. It has been suggested that it might depend on the location origin of the word (from French of from German). As another example, consider the way that Americans don't aspirate the h at the start of 'herb' - this was true in the British Isles a couple of hundred years ago but the pronunciation then mutated in one part of the English world and not in another. However, British English doesn't require 'an' preceding 'herb'. No reason why, but that's English for ya. – awj Jun 17 '16 at 18:08
  • @awj "Grammar," mutable or not, is not the issue. Pronunciation is. The contention that h was somehow prepended to onest because of "a perception that words shouldn't start with a vowels" is just silly. The Latin honestus predates the English word by millennia! We don't know how Latin sounded, but Spanish is considered by many to be the closest modern tongue to its mother, and the h is alao silent in honesto. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Aug 12 '16 at 19:06

8 Answers8

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These sources

  1. dictionary.com
  2. merriam-webster.com
  3. dictionary.cambridge.org
  4. thefreedictionary.com
  5. oxforddictionaries.com

say that the pronunciation is without the "h". I've never personally heard it with the "h". It's possible that some people do pronounce it with the "h", but I feel that they are the minuscule minority. So, I would say you are safest saying "onest", without the "h".

Em.
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    I have only heard one non-native speaker in my life pronounce it with /h/. Never heard a single native pronounce the H in honest. – Nihilist_Frost Jun 17 '16 at 02:47
  • Yeah I was thinking maybe someone from like some random part of the American south might say this. Maybe, so I don't rule it out. Also, yeah, I can imagine a non-native speaker say this. – Em. Jun 17 '16 at 02:59
  • I'm actually finding it quite hard to pronounce with an "h" though it sounds to the inner ear significantly different to the Italian "honetto". I guess that's the aspiration. – Charlie Clark Jun 17 '16 at 10:50
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    @CharlieClark .. I think you meant "onesto". And it doesn't have an "h". – Marin N. Jun 17 '16 at 13:15
  • Thanks for the correction. I'm probably imagining the "h" as being vestigial. – Charlie Clark Jun 17 '16 at 13:16
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I've known it with a silent "h", so "an honest man" as opposed to "a helpful man".

The silent "h" occurs in some words of French origin:

hour
heir
honest
honour

but not in others.

whereas a hard "h" will occur in words of Germanic origin

hatchet
harness
helmet
hamlet

In terms of accents:

The French, when speaking English, will often drop the "h"s since it is not pronounced in French, e.g. Les Halles is pronounced "lay al". On the other hand, I have been asked in Paris by an American "Do you know where Les Halles (les hal-les) is? Had to think for a moment what they meant.

In BrE, an East London, South London, or Cockney accent also drops "h"s, because, well, that's what they do. So they may say "elpful" for helpful.

Peter
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    Your list of French origins should also include hotel which still can be aspirated. Unlike the more Germanic word so the same thing: hostel (the French form dropped the s at some point). – Charlie Clark Jun 17 '16 at 10:52
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    @CharlieClark I believe (but could be wrong) that one of the meanings of the circumflex in the French -- hôtel -- is indicative of the lost s. – TripeHound Jun 17 '16 at 15:35
  • Yes, French has for a long time kept such vestigial markers, also the g in doigt (from digit). But this is now optional. – Charlie Clark Jun 17 '16 at 19:53
  • Circular. If the h weren't silent in an honest man, the article would have to be a not an. The choice between a and an depends on the leading sound of the following word. Likewise if the h in helpful disappeared, it would be an helpful man. – Kaz Jun 18 '16 at 13:58
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There are words with initial "h" where the pronunciation of that "h" varies by region and dialect, but the word "honest" is not one of them. Even in regions (such as mine) in which initial "h" is scrupulously not dropped, "h" is never pronounced in "honest".

Necessary concomitant: we say "a historian" (where I gather Brits write "an historian"), but we say "an honest man".

Codeswitcher
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2

There are three root words I know of that are spelt beginning with a H but are pronounced without any initial aspiration in those accents that have H-aspiration:

  • Hour
  • Honour (Honest, Honesty)
  • Heir

These could be ancient imports from French (where the aspiration is not pronounced) who's pronunciation became standardised before other H-words were Anglicised.

Accents like Cockney that say "Eez at iz ouse" for "He's at his house" drop the H from all words AFAIK.

As others have alluded to, use of a/an before a H-word depends on pronunciation:

"A historian received an honour."

Nicholas Shanks
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0

Check this video on Youtube "Banshee Review - Commodore Amiga + CD32 - Kim Justice (Kimblitz #4) ". The narrator, a British native speaker, clearly pronunces "honestly" with the H.

Johnny
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It does not depend on the country or region. The H is silent.

Mark Foskey
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  • Horn, Helmet, Hamlet, Hive http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/horn_1?q=horn http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/helmet?q=helmet http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/hamlet_1?q=hamlet http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/hive_1?q=hive – Luis Lobo Borobia Jun 17 '16 at 16:26
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This video on You-tube is also talking about it:

"Mispronouncing words that they have silent aitches in English, is a very common mistake"

That's why I think that those who told me to pronounce it with h (honest), are wrong. So-far I didn't even one source that supports or gives evidence for correct pronunciation of honest with h.

Virtuous Legend
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  • This appears to be providing context for your question ... or perhaps acts as a response to another comment or to a query in an answer. It doesn't seem like an answer (is "one person did it on youtube" really an answer to your question?). If it is additional context it should be an edit to the question, if it's a response to others here it should probably be a comment in the relevant place. If this is intended as an answer I think you'd need to explain why a single anecdote would indicate something other than an error. – Glen_b Jun 18 '16 at 01:49
  • It's added answer with more information and different attitude. It says in other words, that those who pronounce with aitch they are making mistake rather than represent a correct way of pronunciation. – Virtuous Legend Jun 18 '16 at 02:27
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The Oxford Advanced learner's dictionary has two pronunciations for the word Honest. The British one is without H and the American one is with H. It looks like the place matters!

Nedunchezhian Chinnachamy
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    Really? Can you please cite exactly what you found in the dictionary? I can't imagine they'd make that mistake in the transcription of the American pronunciation. The online version has the pronunciation I would expect without an /h/: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/honest?q=honest – sumelic Jun 17 '16 at 05:03
  • http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/honest – Em. Jun 17 '16 at 06:41
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    I have the dictionary installed in a tablet. If you listen to the pronunciation the British version is without H and the American version has the H clearly pronounced. – Nedunchezhian Chinnachamy Jun 17 '16 at 07:41
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    I am American, 64 years old, and I have never in my life heard anyone pronounce "honest" with an audible "h". No dictionary in my house, British or American, including the 1889 American "Century Dictionary", lists any pronunciation but "onest". I am certain that your tablet dictionary is simply mistaken. – Richard Hussong Jun 17 '16 at 16:55
  • Have you listened to the pronunciations they have online? Do you hear an "h" there? – Dan Getz Jun 17 '16 at 18:00
  • I checked out the online pronunciations. I feel that the British one has the O sound predominant the American one has it like the a in the word alpha. The subtle difference could have led to my conclusion that H sound is present in the American form of pronunciation. Thank you Mr. Dan and User3081485 for correcting me. – Nedunchezhian Chinnachamy Jun 17 '16 at 18:17