Search from various English teachers...
,,,,
Ssshhhh ..Silence 'H' Hello my friends , I would like to know that why 'H' letter is silent in Spanish ? If it silent letter then why it added in alphabets ? Can anyone explain me about this .

Corrections · 9

1
Hi Maha You might be better to ask this question in the Spanish language part of italki, as you will have more chance of contacting Spanish speakers. I do not speak Spanish, but I think it may be because it changes the sounds of other letters. I know this is the case in Italian. For example the letter 'c' followed by an 'i' has a sound a bit like the English 'chur' in the word 'circa', but the letter 'c' followed by 'h' and then 'i' in the word 'chiave' sounds more like 'key' in English - so the sounds of both the 'c' and 'i' have been changed by the 'h'. If there are any Spanish speakers out there can you confirm if this correct??
1

Ssshhhh ..Silence 'H'

Ssshhhh... The Silent 'H'

 

Hello my friends ,

I would like to know that why 'H' letter is silent in Spanish ?

I would like to know why the letter "h" is silent in Spanish.

 

If it silent letter then why it added in alphabets ? Can anyone explain me about this .

If it is silent, then why is it still in the alphabet? Can anyone explain this to me?

0
Thank you Madam , for your valuable information ,sure I will check that link now .
0
Hi, Maha, as John wrote, this is due to language change. When Latin got to the Iberian Peninsula, it slowly modified. One feature that appeared was a shift of /f/ to /Ø/ (null). This is not a strange shift because it is a clear case of consonant weakening (lenition) from a labial or labiodental sound to its eventual disappearance. You can compare modern Portuguese and Spanish to see some cases where Portuguese retained /f/ when it was lost in Spanish, such as in fazer/hacer, farinha/harina, falar/hablar, filho/hijo. There's more to it, of course. If you're interested, check out an overview at https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/i.e.mackenzie/cons.htm. Otherwise, just google "Spanish lenition h".
0
Nice examples Sir , thank you so much .

Want to progress faster?

Join this learning community and try out free exercises!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to learn a language from the comfort of your own home. Browse our selection of experienced language tutors and enroll in your first lesson now!

Start Learning Today