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I read a tweet of President Obama:

An honor to address the Coast Guard class of 2015. Confident they'll help us meet big challenges like climate change.

Is h a silent letter in this word in American English?

BigOther
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    The "h" is silent. But both "a" or "an" can be used. It would be a bit odd to hear "a honor", but some people do this for emphasis. – A.Ellett May 24 '15 at 00:21
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    The "h" is mostly silent. There is often a hint of an "h" sound in words like "honor", but it is still treated as a vowel sound. – Hot Licks May 24 '15 at 00:23
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    @HotLicks I have never heard any hint of an h in honour as spoken by any native speaker. Of some people do add in a bit of aitchiness, I suspect it's because of the spelling. – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 24 '15 at 00:55
  • @JanusBahsJacquet - It's definitely subtle. – Hot Licks May 24 '15 at 01:00
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    @HotLicks I suspect it's not actually there—or rather, that the likelihood of there being any actual, phonetic aspiration in honour is about the same as in on a (can't think of a pair that rhymes properly in AmE apart from on her, which just moves the issue to the next syllable). – Janus Bahs Jacquet May 24 '15 at 01:07
  • @Hot Licks: I think you're mistaken. Most people no longer aspirate where, whom, etc. at all - but some still do, and I suppose a few of those will have reduced it to a "hint". But I don't think there's any corresponding "residual aspirate" in words like honour. Or even in *historical, come to that - and that's one of the few "potentially silent aitch" words where some real purists say an historical event* is correct even though it's also correct to enunciate the aitch. – FumbleFingers May 24 '15 at 02:18
  • @HotLicks, there's no h in the pronunciation of "honor". Not even a hint. – Greg Lee May 24 '15 at 03:10
  • @GregLee - Whatever you say. – Hot Licks May 24 '15 at 03:24
  • @HotLicks, I should have explained. The difference between an h-beginning word and a vowel-beginning word is categorical -- it's not a matter of degree. Some phonetic differences are matters of degree, but not this one. And we know that because this difference conditions the phonemic difference between forms of the article /a/ and /an/. Non-phonemic differences cannot condition phonemic differences. – Greg Lee May 24 '15 at 03:42
  • Whatever you say. Been speaking English for 60-odd years, but I suppose you know better. – Hot Licks May 24 '15 at 09:17
  • Hot Licks, where do you live? I'm sure you know what you're talking about, but here in New York, no one pronounces the h in honor. Maybe it's a localized thing. – Steven Littman May 25 '15 at 02:47

1 Answers1

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Yes, the H in hono(u)r is silent in both American and British English.

Sources: one, two, three.

Rand al'Thor
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