Etymology

aspirated h

Today it means: In the French language, usage of the letter h at the start of a word which does not allow liaison with a preceding consonant or elision of a preceding schwa. Full definition →

French h aspiré
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The story

  1. French · calque ofh aspiré
  2. English todayaspirated h

Calque of French h aspiré. The aspirated h was pronounced /h/ until Early Modern French (and still is in some northern dialects), whereas the mute h had long been silent. The designation has been maintained although both kinds of h are now technically silent in standard French, but the aspirated h remains pronounced dialectally and in Norman French.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.