How do Americans pronounce "Herb"?

[Aamir Tariq]

I've heard the letter "H" is silent in "Herb" when it is pronounced by a US English speaker, Americans pronounce it like "erb", is that correct? But while looking for a pronunciation video on YouTube, I came across a video in which an American speaker is pronouncing "H". The video shows the difference between American and Australian pronunciation of the word "Herb". In Australian version the letter "r" is pretty much silent.

Here is the link to the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFU91udw6HA

Should I conclude that because of variety of dialects spoken in the USA, "H" sound is also acceptable in some regions?

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen.

 

[bubbha]

I'm American, and I don't think I've ever heard an American pronounce the "h" in "herb", except when discussing how the word is pronounced elsewhere. Also, the name Herb (short for Herbert) is pronounced with an H sound in the US.

 

[Tdol]

As a BrE speaker, it still sounds weird to me without "h".

 

[Aamir Tariq]

As a BrE speaker, it still sounds weird to me without "h".

Yeah, I know "H" is pronounced in the UK, though, I don't know about Irish people since they have nasal accent and they pronounce some of the words the American way. But I found it interesting when I learned about Americans that they don't pronounce "H" and pronounce it like "erb". Any Irishman can contribute to the thread to let us know about how the Irish people pronounce "herb".

Secondly, having learned about the American pronunciation, I still found a video with an American native speaker pronouncing "h". So I would like other Americans to let me know if "h" is pronounced in some dialectal versions within the United States.

 

[teechar]

The Irish pronounce the "h" in "herb".

 

[probus]

In my experience Americans almost always say erbs rather than herbs. Personally I always sound the h.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

What makes you think that?

First of all thanks for correcting my misunderstanding. Now let me tell you what made me think about it. I have always thought that BBC's anchorperson and correspondent Lyse Doucet was Irish. And once when we were discussing accents on a different forum I talked about Irish people spoke with nasal accent and somebody who was an Irish American told me, "that's because most of the Americans are of Irish origin."So that is where I built a perception that Irish people had nasal accent. And Lyse Doucet was one of the examples. But today when you asked me this question I had to google Lyse Doucet and I learned that she isn't an Irish but a born Canadian. So thanks a bunch for correcting my wrong perception.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

In my experience Americans almost always say erbs rather than herbs. Personally I always sound the h.

You mean "erb" isn't North American pronunciation but it is purely used in the US. Whereas people utter the "H" sound in Canada just as you do while pronouncing Herb. Is that correct?

 

[Tdol]

You seem eager to synthesise a general rule from a single point of reference, and to nail it down geographically, while things are often more amorphous and flexible.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

You seem eager to synthesise a general rule from a single point of reference, and to nail it down geographically, while things are often more amorphous and flexible.

I am eager to know about how words are pronounced in the US in particular, because I love American accent a lot. And I also like Australian accent. But since I saw that video clip on YouTube this person has a nasal accent like Americans and he is pronouncing the "H" sound in "herb". And because Probus in post 7 says, personally he sounds the "h", I infer from his post that perhaps Canadians don't say "erbs" but "Herbs".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFU91udw6HA

 

[Tdol]

There are many American accents, though.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

There are many American accents, though.

Yeah, I know, just as there are many accents in Britain as well. But when we are talking about American accent in general we are referring to the standard American accent. Like the standard British accent is the accent of the Queen of Great Britain and the Royal family. I think they speak with clear accent that is easy to comprehend by everyone. Because when we are watching a cricket match that is being played in England on channels like Sky Sports, we get to hear British commentators from different parts of England with different British accents.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Not at all.

Then I can presume the standard British accent is what we hear on BBC News. Is that correct?

 

[emsr2d2]

Then I can presume the standard British accent is what we hear on BBC News. Is that correct?

Not any more, in my opinion. There are multiple accents on BBC News, both on TV and on radio. The days when one heard only a Home Counties accent are long gone. Regional accents are not only heard but positively encouraged.

 

[Tdol]

Interestingly, there are differences of accent within the royal family- some of the younger members, like Prince Harry, speak something that mixes RP with features of Estuary English.

 

[jutfrank]

Any standard is ultimately an arbitrary form by which to compare other forms, for whatever reason that may be. In the past, it may have been considered desirable by some people to sound like the Queen.

What makes the BBC relevant here is that in broadcasting it is important for speech to be easily understood and clearly articulated, regardless of regional accent. So the generic features of BBC English are much more to do with enunciation, cadence, pace, etcetera, as well as choice of vocabulary.