{"id":21787,"date":"2015-03-12T21:57:08","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T20:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=21787"},"modified":"2017-10-23T14:28:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T12:28:47","slug":"todays-post-is-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-h","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/todays-post-is-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-h\/","title":{"rendered":"Today’s Post is Brought to You by the Letter….H!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The letter H <\/em>in French is, of course, only one letter, but it can cause a problem in speaking and spelling if you’re not familiar with the concepts of h aspir\u00e9<\/em><\/strong> (aspirated H) and h muet<\/em><\/strong> (silent H). Despite the name ‘silent H,’ both Hs are silent: you never pronounce an H in French*. Hurray consistency! The terms refer to whether you can make a contraction [quoi? je<\/strong> + entends<\/strong> = j’entends <\/strong>or do + not = don’t, in English]\u00a0 or do a liason [quoi? <\/strong>with les amis<\/strong>, you would pronounce the -s in les<\/strong> as a -z sound] with the words.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

You may sometimes read that the h aspir\u00e9 <\/em><\/strong>words come from words that derive from Germanic languages, tandis que <\/strong>(whereas) h muet<\/em><\/strong> words have Latin origins. This isn’t entirely true, though, because you can find words of Latin origin that take an aspirated h: haut<\/strong> comes from the latin altus<\/em>, but it has no h. So even if you’re a true expert in etymology, it may not help you here. Where do these rules come from, then? This is where the Sandhi phemonema<\/a>\u00a0comes into play. This is a term used to describe the processes undergone by a form of a word under the influence of an adjacent word, which in French can include elision and liason. The Sandhi processes only apply to h muet<\/strong> as they are blocked by the h aspir\u00e9 <\/strong>words.<\/p>\n

So, how can you tell the difference whether the new word you’re learning is an aspirated or silent H? Il faut le m\u00e9moriser <\/strong>(you have to memorize it)!<\/p>\n

If you come across a word and you’re not sure if it’s aspirated or mute, look it up in a French dictionary that uses the IPA<\/a>. Any aspirated H will be marked with un apostrophe <\/strong>(an apostrophe).<\/p>\n

* = An H by itself is never pronounced, but it can affect the pronunciation of a word if it’s grouped with a with a C (un chapeau <\/strong>– a hat — -ch is pronounced like an sh- here), a T (le th\u00e9 <\/strong>– tea — -th is pronounced exactly like a T), or a P (la pharmacie <\/strong>– pharmacy — -ph here is pronounced like an F).<\/p>\n

****<\/strong><\/p>\n

H-aspir\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aspirated H acts just like a consonant. This means that you cannot make any contractions and liasons are not made in front of it. Why? Because you don’t do this with consonants! If a word is borrowed into French and begins with an H, it is normally aspirate . Here are a list of some aspirated H words. This is not a complete list by any means, but it’s a good starter list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
la hache <\/strong>(axe)<\/td>\nle ha\u00efku<\/strong> (haiku)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la haine<\/strong> (hatred)<\/td>\nha\u00efr<\/strong> \u00a0(to hate) – je hais<\/strong>, not j’hais<\/strong>!.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le halo<\/strong> (halo)<\/td>\nle<\/strong> hamac<\/strong> (hammock)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le hamburger<\/strong> (hamburger)<\/td>\nle<\/strong> hamster<\/strong> (hamster)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la hanche<\/strong> (hip)<\/td>\nharceler<\/strong> (to harass)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le haricot<\/strong> (bean)<\/td>\nle<\/strong> hasard<\/strong> (chance, luck)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
haut<\/strong> (high)<\/td>\nle h\u00e9ros<\/strong>* (hero)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
le<\/strong> hibou<\/strong> (owl)<\/td>\nle hobby <\/strong>(hobby)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la<\/strong> honte<\/strong> (shame)<\/td>\nle hoquet <\/strong>(hiccup)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la<\/strong> huche<\/strong> (chest, trunk)<\/td>\nhuer <\/strong>(to boo)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

* The masculine form of hero is an aspirated form, but the feminine derivative, l’h\u00e9ro\u00efne<\/strong>, is a mute H!<\/p>\n

If you’d like to memorize a much longer list, Wikipedia has a lengthy article<\/a>\u00a0that can help you out. They have hundreds of examples, but the words aren’t always that common.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

****<\/strong><\/p>\n

H-muet<\/strong><\/p>\n

The silent H acts as a vowel, so it will allow both elision from the previous word and liasons to be made. The good news here is that la plupart des mots fran\u00e7ais qui commencent par H sont muet <\/strong>(the majority of French words that begin with H are silent). If you’re not sure, you can take the gamble and assume it’s silent. Here are some H-muet<\/em> <\/strong>words, but again, this list is not complete. The use of the indefinite article in these examples might seem bizarre, but it’s only here to show the gender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
habiller <\/strong>(to get dressed)<\/td>\nune habitude <\/strong>(habit)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
halluciner <\/strong>(to hallucinate)<\/td>\nune harmonie <\/strong>(harmony)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un<\/strong> h\u00e9bergement<\/strong> (housing, lodging)<\/td>\nun<\/strong> h\u00e9licopt\u00e8re<\/strong> \u00a0(helicopter)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un<\/strong> h\u00e9misph\u00e8re<\/strong> (hemisphere)<\/td>\nune<\/strong> herbe<\/strong> (grass)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
heureux<\/strong> (happy)<\/td>\nun<\/strong> hexagone<\/strong> (hexagon)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
une histoire <\/strong>(history, story)<\/td>\nun hiver <\/strong>(winter)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
une hom\u00e9opathie<\/strong> \u00a0(homeopathy)<\/td>\nun homme <\/strong>(man)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
un h\u00f4pital<\/strong>\u00a0 (hospital)<\/td>\nun horaire <\/strong>(schedule, timetable)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
une humeur <\/strong>(mood)<\/td>\nune huile <\/strong>(oil)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
une hu\u00eetre<\/strong> (oyster)<\/td>\nune hygi\u00e8ne<\/strong> \u00a0(hygiene)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

So, should you come across a word that begins with an H and you’re not sure why there’s to elision, now you know why! Bonne <\/strong>m\u00e9morisation!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Any other important words you can think of to add to the list?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

The letter H in French is, of course, only one letter, but it can cause a problem in speaking and spelling if you’re not familiar with the concepts of h aspir\u00e9 (aspirated H) and h muet (silent H). Despite the name ‘silent H,’ both Hs are silent: you never pronounce an H in French*. Hurray…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":28709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1,13],"tags":[348545,348547,348548,348546],"class_list":["post-21787","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-vocabulary","tag-aspirated-h","tag-h-aspire","tag-h-muet","tag-silent-h"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t