Herb or "erb"?

[MozzarellaSticks]

Since I'm learning English, I'd say "Herb" and I don't see why the H would be silent...

Language of origin for herb is Latin, which has changed over time to a soft h that is so soft it's silent. Most Romance languages today don't pronounce the letter h, but still spell with it, such as Spanish and French.

 

[Daydream]

Language of origin for herb is Latin, which has changed over time to a soft h that is so soft it's silent. Most Romance languages today don't pronounce the letter h, but still spell with it, such as Spanish and French.

Oh, I didn't know it had Latin roots, thanks for this.

And I'm aware we don't pronounce H in French or Spanish since I speak both, lol!

 

[guardgirl]

the only time ive ever heard "herb" with an h is for a mans name. like herbert. but the american dictionary states that it is a silent h. i didnt realize that was different between people, thought it was kind of a universal situation.

 

[MozzarellaSticks]

Oh, I didn't know it had Latin roots, thanks for this.

And I'm aware we don't pronounce H in French or Spanish since I speak both, lol!

General explanation for anyone. I figured you spoke a Romance language if you wanted to say it phonetically. Romance languages pronounce any word, regardless of language or origin, according to the language laws. English pronounces based on language or origin, which is why you have so many funky spellings. It's also why you see kids at spelling bees asking for the language of origin. For example, when spelling phonetic the kid might ask for the language of origin (Greek) because it tells them that the f sound will be a ph, not an f.

 

[graceroxx]

i used to say herb but then everyone was like "herb?? what's that?? don't you mean 'erb' ??" so i gradually switched to saying that instead

 

[Pearls]

I say herb. I've never heard it prononced like erb. Everyone I know says herb