DAI RISPOSTE - English

Short answer:

If your focus is British English, check the phonetic spelling of the word in a good British English focused dictionary such as the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary or Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. It will give you a standard answer which is ”safe” for a non-native speaker to use whether to pronounce the ”h” or not.

Similarly, for American English, look for the phonetic spelling in a dictionary focused on American English such as the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English for Advanced Learners.

Much longer answer:

It’s very messy! Pronunciation of the ”h” often depends on which dialect of English you are speaking, whether it is British, American, Australian, Indian or West Indian - even the specific region within these areas.

On occasion it is a case of personal preference - both can be heard at a specific location being used by native speakers from there.

Some words are pretty standard for having a ”silent h” for just about everyone no matter what dialect of English they are speaking - such as words ending in ”ght” like ”taught” or ”bought”, many starting with ”wh” such as the previously used ”what” or ”wheat” or a word like ”rhyme”.

Others are specific to whether you speak British or American English. Some words like ”honest” drop the h for both standard British and American English. Others vary between these dialects.

The French origin of a word is a good first guess for not pronouncing the ”h” in either standard British or American English but is definitely not foolproof. For example, ”hospital” has the ”h” pronounced in both standard British and American English.

Then it can also come down to the region where you live. For example, in standard British English, a word like ”horrible” does not drop the "h" sound. However, many dialects around England tend to drop it. A Cockney speaker would pronounce it is ” ’orrible”. Funnily enough, in some regions of both England and the US, the ”h” in ”hospital” also gets dropped.

Dialects such as Scots and Irish English tend to drop the ”h” sound in most words. West Indian English has eliminated the ”h” sound just about completely. However, Indian English tends to pronounce the ”h” sound often more strongly and even pronounces ”h” in words where it is normally silent in either standard British or American English.

As I have already said, it’s a real linguistic mess. And I didn’t even get into matters such as ”h” combined with different vowel sounds! Unless you are someone who is deeply into regional language differences, the easiest and least painful way is simply to check the phonetic spelling/pronunciation in a dictionary of the dialect of your choice.

Also, there’s no hard (note: ’h’ not silent) and fast rule for ”silent” versus ”not silent” pronounced ”he” in English, but a good rule is that words (in English) derived from French that begin w/ letter ”h”, the ”h” is often - but not always - silent. Sometimes it can go either way, e.g., the word ”horrible”: Americans usually pronounce the ”h” -- it’s not silent; Brits usually do not pronounce the ”h” -- it is silent.

Vince: pronounce it similarly to how the letter ”h’” is pronounced in the French name ”Henri” or the city ”Honfleur”.