After a bit of discussion...

[telophase]

Somehow, myrialux and I got onto the subject of the pronunciation of the word "human." We both say "hyoo-man," with a voiced H at the beginning, while we've both heard podcast hosts and other speakers who say "yoo-man," with a voiced Y (or a J if you come from fjord country!) at the beginning. We're both wondering which accents/dialects use which. (There may even be "oo-man" pronunciations out there in some dialects, for all I know.)

So, please answer this question:

How do you pronounce the word "human," and from what U.S. state or other country does your dialect of spoken English originate?

myrialux and I both pronounce it "hyoo-man" and we both grew up in Texas (him north me central) and have the standard Midwest American accent that really characterizes Texas, instead of the Texan drawl that everyone thinks Texans use. (It's a country vs. city thing, really.)

Tagging this "poll" even though I'm not using a poll form. :D

Comments

[onthehill]

I'm a "hyoo-man", as is everyone around me my whole life (from the UK, now in Hong Kong). The only slight variation is my grandmother used to say "hoo-man", but then she also said "Toos-day" instead of "Tyews-day". Maybe it was a speech impediment!

[boxofdelights]

hyoo-man. Grew up in Michigan, probably sound a lot like you.

[metaphortunate]

Hyoo-man, but central Texas also. Actually, Mr. E says it also, and northern East Coast.

[torachan]

Southern California. Also hyooman here. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say anything else.

[jinian]

Pacific Northwest, "hyoo-man", "Toos-day". :)

[tessercat]

I think it's closer to *hew-man* for me. But then that depends on how you pronounce hew. (h'you?)

Southern Ontario, by way of other points that may or may not have influenced.

[telophase]

I say "hyoo-man" and "Toos-day" also! :D

[dsgood]

Hew-man.

My dialect: Hudson Valley. (Note: New York State has four dialects, three of which extend into other states.)

[loligo]

I know exactly what you're talking about, and I always thought it was associated with some sort of East Coast regional accent, but I don't know which one, and it obviously hasn't popped up here yet.

[loligo]

P.S. Here are some data on the question, but without further analysis or commentary they're really not very informative: http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_37.html .

[tool_of_satan]

Ditto. I am not sure I have ever heard anyone say "Tyews-day."

[thornsilver]

I am from NYC, NY, USA, and I have never heard anyone pronounce "human" without the starting "h".

[lrodell.livejournal.com]

I'm from New Orleans, and all the people I can remember saying the word, myself included, say,"hyoo-man". Now I'll be listening to native Georgia folks and visitors from other states, to see how they say it?^^

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I pronounce the initial H. I would say my accent is more or less standard Mid-Atlantic states.

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

My impression has been that "hyoo-man" is the standard English pronunciation of the word.

[wyrdness.livejournal.com]

With my Cambridgeshire UK accent I say hyoo-man (hew-man? Either way it definitely starts with a h). Though I'd also say it's closer to the English version of "default TV non-accent" than anything.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Interesting--one of the people myrialux hears say it (the liberal commentator on the Left, Right & Center podcast) was raised in the Bronx!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

You'll never stop listening now!

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

Accents vary by borough, so it's possible it's a Bronx-specific thing. But I doubt it.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

KY and I both say hyoo-man.