The British pronunciation is “Herbs” with an “H” while American pronunciation is “erbs” without the “H.” Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. “Herb” or “erb,” it’s really your choice. Hallelujah for democracy.
Why do we say ERBS instead of Herbs?
Answer. Answer: The Americans have picked this up from Norman- French. “Herb” is a word that would have been very commonly used by the French, so that is why it would have stuck, as oppose to other words in the American dialect such as “helicopter.”
Is it Herbs or Erbs in Canada?
How bland our turkey stuffing would taste without herbs – but why do some Canadians pronounce herb’s “h,” and others don’t? From about 1200, when it was adopted from French, until about 1500, the word was “erb,” without an “h” to say.
How do the British pronounce Herbs?
The British pronunciation is “Herbs” with an “H” while American pronunciation is “erbs” without the “H.” Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. “Herb” or “erb,” it’s really your choice.
Why do Americans say aluminum?
The American Chemical Society adopted “aluminum” because of how widely it was used by the public, but the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry officially designated the metal as “aluminium” as recently as 1990.
How do u spell ERB?
You say ‘erb (using the silent French ‘h’), I say herb (the way it’s spelt). Here’s a good example of the difference between the American pronunciation (usually referred to as General American, or GA) and the Received Pronunciation (British English, RP) of foreign loan words — ie.
Is herb a vegetable?
Herbs are a subset of vegetables, and they are generally composed of strong and flavorful leaves of certain plants, such as dill, oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, cilantro and basil.
Do British pronounce the h in Herbs?
The h in herb finally started being pronounced in the 19th century in Britain. By this time, the US was independent and American English was following a separate path from its British cousin.
Do you pronounce the L in salmon?
About that time, some people were rallying for words to reflect their Latin origins. Salmon was one of those words. In Latin, the word for fish is salmo, and the L is pronounced. Even though the English word spelling changed from samoun to salmon, the pronunciation stayed the same, making the L silent.
How is thyme pronounced?
The correct pronunciation of thyme is exactly like the word “time”. The “h” in thyme is silent and “i” is pronounced with a long “i”, which means like the word “eye”. The end result is that thyme is pronounced exactly how you would say the word “time”.
Why do British say Zed?
The British and others pronounce “z”, “zed”, owing to the origin of the letter “z”, the Greek letter “Zeta”. This gave rise to the Old French “zede”, which resulted in the English “zed” around the 15th century.
Is it a herb or an herb?
A: In the United States, the “h” in “herb” is silent. In Britain, it’s sounded. We say “an ‘erb” while the British say “a herb.”
Is an onion a herb?
The definition of an herb: any plant with leaves, seeds, or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine or perfume. So onions qualify as an herb! Onions are in the allium family along with chives, garlic, shallots, scallion, and leeks.
Is celery a herb or spice?
Celery can be claaassified as an aromatic vegetable because it is mainly grown as a fresh herb, i.e. for the leaves and petioles. It has also been categorized as a seed spice because the seeds are used for this purpose in whole or powdered form, or in the form of seed oil or oleoresins.
Are bananas herbs?
While the banana plant is colloquially called a banana tree, it’s actually an herb distantly related to ginger, since the plant has a succulent tree stem, instead of a wood one. The yellow thing you peel and eat is, in fact, a fruit because it contains the seeds of the plant.
Why do Brits say herb?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, you Brits said herb with a silent H right up until some time in the 19th century. Only then did you start to adapt this loanword into your own pronunciation habits. For whatever reason, we Americans just simply haven’t gotten around to anglicizing herb yet.
How is salmon pronounced?
The pronunciation of salmon is often object of confusion. In English, the correct pronunciation of salmon is sam-un. The “l” in salmon is silent. However, in certain dialects and varieties of English salmon is occasionally pronounced with an “l”.
Is the TH silent in scythe?
The correct pronunciation of Scythe is saith. The -ai is pronounced like the word “eye” and the final “th” is pronounced like the “th” is pronounced in the word “though”. Both the word “scythe” and the board game of the same name are pronounced as saith.
Do you pronounce the L in almonds?
More recent standard dictionaries say we can now properly pronounce “almond” either with or without the “l” sound. I consulted American Heritage (4th ed.), Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.), Webster’s New World College Dictionary (4th ed.), and the Random House Webster’s College Dictionary.
Is Route pronounced rOOt or rOWt?
A: The word “route” can be pronounced either ROOT or ROWT in the US. This is true for both the noun, meaning a course or path, or the verb, meaning to send something by a specific course or path. In Britain, though, only the first pronunciation is common for the noun and verb.
Do you pronounce the L in salmonella?
Now, since the L in salmon appears before a consonant, we would expect it to be pronounced [saumon] in these regions, as we hear almond sometimes pronounced. Most folks up North, however, have adopted the simpler pronunciation [sammon]. That leaves us with the question of salmonella.
