Syllable-onset h deletion

The deletion of syllable-initial h in harm as ‘arm or hope as ‘ope is also a prominent feature of Bahamian speech showing regional, social, and ethnic variation in Bahamian English. Most studies (Wells 1982; Holm 1980; Childs, Reaser and Wolfram 2003) agree that it tends to be more prominent in the speech of Anglo-Bahamians than it is in Afro-Bahamian speech, and that it correlates with social status differences and regional location as well. However, the social and ethnic differences tend to be a matter of relative frequency rather than the categorical presence or absence of so-called h-dropping. Childs, Reaser and Wolfram’s (2003) study of syllable onset h deletion on Abaco Island indicates that although both black and white Bahamian communities exhibit h deletion, members of the enclave Anglo-Bahamian communities drop h more frequently than their Afro-Bahamian cohorts, regardless of age. There are also linguistically based effects on the relative frequency of h deletion based on phonetic context: h deletion is most favored at the beginning of an utterance. It is also more favored when it follows a consonant rather than a vowel; that is, speakers are more likely to say bees’ ‘ive for bees’ hive than bee ‘ive for bee hive. The favoring effect in terms of the canonical shape of sequences is natural in terms of a universal preference for the preservation of CV sequences as opposed to VV sequences.

As with w/v alternation, British Cockney has sometimes been cited as a source of h deletion in Anglo-Bahamian English, although it is a relatively widespread and phonetically natural process that is found in many varieties of English (Trudgill 1999). The initial impetus for h dropping may have come from a British English founder effect but its maintenance certainly is reinforced by its apparent naturalness as a phonetic process.