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Reddit
reddit.com › r/ireland › so, how are you all pronouncing the letter h ?
r/ireland on Reddit: So, how are you all pronouncing the letter H ?
October 19, 2020 -

Do we all pronounce it the same way in Ireland, or does anybody pronounce it the English way 'Aitch' ? How did they get to 'Aitch' while we're at it? The pronunciation clue is right there in the usage:

Hello.

I know some English accents would say 'ello, but most wouldn't right?

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Tobar na Gaedhilge
www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk › gaeilge › donncha › focal › features › irishsp.html
Irish Spelling and Pronunciation
In all other syllables, they are all reduced to the neutral “uh” sound of English “but”. The same thing happens in English, where “Benjamin” is pronounced “BEN-juh-muhn”. Thus the Irish word for Irish, “éireannach”, is pronounced “AY-ruh-nuhkh”.
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Quora
quora.com › Why-dont-Irish-people-pronounce-the-letter-H-in-words
Why don't Irish people pronounce the letter H in words? - Quora
Answer (1 of 7): When speaking English, you mean? They absolutely do, except when it’s a “Th”. Yes most people do, some people don’t… and there is a gradation between. Even when they pronounce it, you probably can’t hear it. We often use that “Th” sound as a marker to identify ...
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Wikibooks
en.wikibooks.org › wiki › Irish › Reference › Pronunciation
Irish/Reference/Pronunciation - Wikibooks, open books for an open world
March 24, 2007 - T -> TH. The Irish TH is pronounced as the Irish SH, i.e. as a H sound. And it can only be lenited when it is followed by a vowel or one of the consonants N, L, R. It also resists lenition according to the same rules as the D does.
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Irish Language Forum
irishlanguageforum.com › viewtopic.php
ILF - Irish Language Forum • View topic - Got a question about "h"
Learn Irish, study Irish, practice Irish, discuss Irish and get free human Irish tuition and translation. Irish Gaelic learning in English and translation from English into Irish.
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UsingEnglish
usingenglish.com › home › testing › language polls › question
Poll: I pronounce the letter 'H'... - UsingEnglish.com
Its name in English is spelled aitch in most dialects, though in Irish, Indian and British English[citation needed] it is generally haitch ... The correct way I was taught & my Mum says (who was a head teacher - now 78) - also the Queen says 'aitch' I think the problem comes from recent education when the children are taught the 'phoneme' way of pronouncing letters....
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Chiff and Fipple
forums.chiffandfipple.com › board index › off-topic (more or less) › irish language
Guide to Irish Pronunciation - Chiff and Fipple Forums
Gh (broad): Makes exactly the same ... on its own in Irish. When it does, it will always be in front of a vowel, and you can pronounce it just as you would in English....
Find elsewhere
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Tobar na Gaedhilge
www3.smo.uhi.ac.uk › sengoidelc › donncha › labhairt.html
Old-Irish spelling and pronunciation
When “s” is lenited, it is written “ṡ” with a dot over it, or in later spelling as “sh”, and is then pronounced /h/: ... Words beginning with the letter “s” are not subject to eclipsis. When in initial position, or when doubled, these letters stand for tense varieties of “r, l, n”, sounds that have been preserved in some dialects of modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic.
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TikTok
tiktok.com › viv ☘️ irish girl in nyc (@vivienne_in_nyc) | tiktok › in the irish language, the combinations "mh," "bh," and "th" have specific pronunciations that are quite different from english. here's how to pronounce them: 1. **mh**: this combination is pronounced like a "v." it's similar to the english "v" sound, but it's softer and sometimes closer to a "w" sound. for example, "amháin" is pronounced like "aw-vawn." 2. **bh**: similar to "mh," "bh" is also pronounced like a "v." it's soft and close to the english "v" sound. for example, "róibh" is pronounced like "row-iv." i will say that when you have a bh in the middle of a word in my munster irish dialect, i pronounce them ‘w’. like “cabhair” (help) - “cow-er”. 3. **th**: this combination is pronounced as a soft "h." it's like the english "h" sound, but it's softer. for example, "athair" is pronounced like "ah-hir." remember that these sounds might vary slightly based on dialect, and it's a good idea to listen to native speakers to get the nuances right. #gaeilge #irishlanguage #bitesizeirish #culturalheritage #learnirish #irishwords #irishculture #languagerevival #heritagelanguage #irishvocabulary #irishtradition #gaelic #speakirish #gaeilgeoir #irishlinguistics #irishphrases #learninglanguages #irishheritage #celticlanguages #languagelearning #irishpride #irishcommunity #bilinguallife #gaelicwords #exploregaeilge #gaeilgeabú #irishlearner #languagejourney #celticculture #gaeilgebeo
In the Irish language, the combinations "mh," "bh," and "th" have specific pronunciations that are quite different from English. Here's how to pronounce them: 1. **mh**: This combination is pronounced like a "v." It's similar to the English "v" sound, but it's softer and sometimes closer to a "w" sound. For example, "amháin" is pronounced like "aw-vawn." 2. **bh**: Similar to "mh," "bh" is also pronounced like a "v." It's soft and close to the English "v" sound. For example, "róibh" is pronounced like "row-iv." I will say that when you have a BH in the middle of a word in my Munster Irish dialect, I pronounce them ‘W’. Like “Cabhair” (help) - “cow-er”. 3. **th**: This combination is pronounced as a soft "h." It's like the English "h" sound, but it's softer. For example, "athair" is pronounced like "ah-hir." Remember that these sounds might vary slightly based on dialect, and it's a good idea to listen to native speakers to get the nuances right. #Gaeilge #IrishLanguage #BitesizeIrish #CulturalHeritage #LearnIrish #IrishWords #IrishCulture #LanguageRevival #HeritageLanguage #IrishVocabulary #IrishTradition #Gaelic #SpeakIrish #Gaeilgeoir #IrishLinguistics #IrishPhrases #LearningLanguages #IrishHeritage #CelticLanguages #LanguageLearning #IrishPride #IrishCommunity #BilingualLife #GaelicWords #ExploreGaeilge #GaeilgeAbú #IrishLearner #LanguageJourney #CelticCulture #gaeilgebeo | TikTok
TikTok video from Viv ☘️ Irish ... from English. Here's how to pronounce them: 1. **mh**: This combination is pronounced like a "v." It's similar to the English "v" sound, but it's softer and sometimes closer to a "w" ...
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TikTok
tiktok.com › rteradio1 (@rteradio1) official | tiktok › the power of the letter ‘h’ in the irish langage is no joke ☘️😂 as demonstrated here by our gaeilgeoir cormac 🇮🇪 #asgaeilge #irishlanguage #irishgrammar #seachtainnagaeilge #stpatricksday
The power of the letter ‘H’ in the Irish langage is no joke ☘️😂 as demonstrated here by our gaeilgeoir Cormac 🇮🇪 #asgaeilge #irishlanguage #irishgrammar #seachtainnagaeilge #stpatricksday | TikTok
1269 Likes, 32 Comments. TikTok video from rteradio1 (@rteradio1): “The power of the letter ‘H’ in the Irish langage is no joke ☘️😂 as demonstrated here by our gaeilgeoir Cormac 🇮🇪 #asgaeilge #irishlanguage #irishgrammar #seachtainnagaeilge #stpatricksday”. The Power of the letter ‘H’ in Irish ☘️🔊The Power of the ‘H’ In Irish ☘️ 🔊original sound - rteradio1.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › H
H - Wikipedia
2 weeks ago - In archaic spelling, the digraph ... in the name Vargha, pronounced [vɒrgɒ]. In Ukrainian and Belarusian, when written in the Latin alphabet, ⟨h⟩ is also commonly used for /ɦ/, which is otherwise written with the Cyrillic letter ⟨г⟩. In Irish, ⟨h⟩ is not considered ...
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WordPress
stancarey.wordpress.com › 2013 › 11 › 19 › an-aitch-or-a-haitch-lets-ear-it
Haitchers gonna haitch | Sentence first
December 4, 2024 - The oddly named letter H is usually pronounced 'aitch' /eɪtʃ/ in British English, but in Ireland we tend to aspirate it as 'haitch' /heɪtʃ/. This haitching is a distinctive feature of Hiberno-English, one that may have originated as an a ...
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Quora
quora.com › Why-dont-Irish-people-pronounce-the-letter-H-in-thirty
Why don't Irish people pronounce the letter H in thirty? - Quora
Answer (1 of 8): Nobody seems to want to answer the question “why?”. The basis of all foreign accents is that the mother tongue does not possess certain phonemes necessary for the second language and, if the learner cannot learn them, then they adapt other sounds which do exist in their first lan...
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Angaelmagazine
angaelmagazine.com › pronunciation › consonants.htm
How to pronounce Irish
The Irish Consonants The modern Irish consonants are b, c, d, f, g, l, m, n, p, r, s, and t. We don't use j, k, q, v, w, x, y, or z. 'h' is sometimes used at the beginning of a word for grammatical reasons, and constantly used in combination with certain Irish consonants in order to change how they're pronounced.
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Standingstones
standingstones.com › gaelpron.html
Beginner's Guide to Irish Gaelic Pronunciation
Nowadays Irish is printed using the standard Western alphabet, and the little dot has been replaced by the letter ... "h" sometimes appears at beginning of a word before a vowel, or in words borrowed from English. It is pronounced the same as in English when used by itself before a vowel.)
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Irish_orthography
Irish orthography - Wikipedia
November 3, 2025 - Thus the dotted letters (litreacha buailte "struck letters") ⟨ḃ, ċ, ḋ, ḟ, ġ, ṁ, ṗ, ṡ, ṫ⟩ are equivalent to letters followed by a ⟨h⟩, i.e. ⟨bh, ch, dh, fh, gh, mh, ph, sh, th⟩. Lowercase ⟨i⟩ has no tittle in Gaelic type. However, as printed and electronic material like books, newspapers and web pages use Roman type almost invariably, the tittle is generally shown. Irish does not graphemically distinguish dotted i and dotless ı, i.e.
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › H-dropping
H-dropping - Wikipedia
November 10, 2025 - It is not generally found in North American English, although it has been reported in Newfoundland (outside the Avalon Peninsula). However, dropping of /h/ from the cluster /hj/ (so that human is pronounced /'juːmən/) is found in some American dialects, as well as in parts of Ireland – see reduction of /hj/.
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Raven Boy Music
ravenboymusic.com › articles › the irish can’t spell (and the english can’t read), or, pronouncing irish names with a minimum of mangling
The Irish Can’t Spell (and the English Can’t Read), or, Pronouncing Irish names with a minimum of mangling
June 28, 2019 - Just remember that Irish Sí (and sidhe, ‘fairy’) sounds like English SHE, but an Irish She doesn’t. TH: Usually silent, as in máthair above. For the consonants that go silent, remember that they are still keeping vowels from running into one another. Within a name, an H sound will do the job. For example, the name Saoirbhreathach (which should not be pronounced like sauerbraten however sorely you are tempted) is roughly sair-vra-hock, preserving the number of syllables.
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Scoilgaeilge
scoilgaeilge.org › lessons › fuaimniu.htm
How to pronounce Irish
All slender consonants can be pronounced with or without a y-glide. The y-glide sounds like 'yih' and is very short and faint. For example, ceann ('head') can be pronounced 'can', or 'c-yan' (with stress on the front as always) or 'c-yahn' (with stress on the front as always).