Editing H (section)

==Name==
===English===
For most English speakers, the name for the letter is pronounced as {{IPAc-en|eɪ|tʃ}} and spelled "aitch"<ref name=mw/> or occasionally "eitch". The pronunciation {{IPAc-en|h|eɪ|tʃ}} and the associated spelling "haitch" are often considered to be [[H-dropping#H-insertion|h-adding]] and are considered non-standard in England.<ref name="how do you pronounce H"/> It is, however, a feature of [[Hiberno-English]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPo0oB19gDUC |title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English |first=T. P. |last=Dolan |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd |access-date=3 September 2016 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780717135356 |archive-date=17 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117125616/https://books.google.com/books?id=uPo0oB19gDUC |url-status=live }}</ref> and occurs sporadically in various other dialects.

The perceived name of the letter affects the choice of [[a and an|indefinite article]] before [[initialism]]s beginning with H: for example "an H-bomb" or "a H-bomb". The pronunciation {{IPA|/heɪtʃ/}} may be a [[hypercorrection]] formed by analogy with the names of the other letters of the alphabet, most of which include the sound they represent.<ref>Todd, L. & Hancock I.: "International English Ipod", page 254. Routledge, 1990.</ref>

The ''haitch'' pronunciation of ''h'' has spread in England, being used by approximately 24% of English people born since 1982,<ref>[[John C. Wells]], ''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary'', page 360, Pearson, Harlow, 2008</ref> and polls continue to show this pronunciation becoming more common among younger native speakers. Despite this increasing number, the pronunciation without the {{IPA|/h/}} sound is still considered standard in England, although the pronunciation with {{IPA|/h/}} is also attested as a legitimate variant.<ref name="how do you pronounce H">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11642588 |title='Haitch' or 'aitch'? How do you pronounce 'H'? |work=BBC News |access-date=3 September 2016 |archive-date=12 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012035400/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11642588 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[Northern Ireland]], the pronunciation of the letter has been used as a [[shibboleth]], with Catholics typically pronouncing it with the {{IPA|/h/}} and Protestants pronouncing the letter without it.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPo0oB19gDUC|title=A Dictionary of Hiberno-English: The Irish Use of English|first=T. P.|last=Dolan|date=1 January 2004|publisher=Gill & Macmillan Ltd|isbn=9780717135356}}</ref>

Authorities disagree about the history of the letter's name. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' says the original name of the letter was {{IPA|la|ˈaha|}} in Latin; this became {{IPA|la|ˈaka|}} in Vulgar Latin, passed into English via Old French {{IPA|ang|atʃ|}}, and by Middle English was pronounced {{IPA|enm|aːtʃ|}}. ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' derives it from French ''hache'' from Latin ''haca'' or ''hic''. [[Anatoly Liberman]] suggests a conflation of two obsolete orderings of the alphabet, one with ''H'' immediately followed by ''K'' and the other without any ''K'': reciting the former's ''..., H, K, L,...'' as {{IPA|[...(h)a ka el ...]}} when reinterpreted for the latter ''..., H, L,...'' would imply a pronunciation of {{IPA|[(h)a ka]}} for ''H''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blog.oup.com/2013/08/alphabet-soup-letter-h-y-origin-etymology/ |title=Alphabet soup, part 2: H and Y |last=Liberman |first=Anatoly |date=7 August 2013 |work=Oxford Etymologist |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=3 October 2013 |archive-date=4 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223650/http://blog.oup.com/2013/08/alphabet-soup-letter-h-y-origin-etymology/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Other languages===
* [[French language|French]]: {{lang|fr|ache}} {{IPA|fr|aʃ|}}
* [[German language|German]]: {{lang|de|ha}} {{IPA|de|haː|}}
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: {{lang|pt|agá}} {{IPA|pt|ɐˈɣa, aˈɡa|}}
* [[Spanish language|Spanish]]: {{lang|es|hache}} {{IPA|es|'atʃe|}}
* [[Italian language|Italian]]: {{lang|it|acca}} {{IPA|it|ˈakːa|}}
* [[Danish language|Danish]], [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]] and [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''hå'' [{{IPA|ˈho|}}]
* [[Polish language|Polish]]: ''ha'' {{IPA|pl|ˈxa|}}
* [[Czech language|Czech]]: ''ha'' {{IPA|cs|ˈɦa|}}