h

See also: Appendix:Variations of "h"

h U+0068, h LATIN SMALL LETTER H ← g [U+0067] Basic Latin i → [U+0069]

ʰ U+02B0, ʰ MODIFIER LETTER SMALL H ← ʯ [U+02AF] Spacing Modifier Letters ʱ → [U+02B1]

ｈ U+FF48, ｈ FULLWIDTH LATIN SMALL LETTER H ← ｇ [U+FF47] Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms ｉ → [U+FF49]

Translingual

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet.

See also

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter H):  Ĥĥ  Ȟȟ  Ḧḧ  Ḣḣ  Ḩḩ  Ḥḥ  Ḫḫ  H̱ẖ  Ħħ  Ⱨⱨ  ɦ  ʰ  ʜ  Ｈｈ
• Ƕ (hwair)
• ɧ (heng with hook)

Pronunciation

• IPA:

  (file)

Symbol

h

1. (IPA) a voiceless glottal fricative or approximant.

   (superscript ⟨ʰ⟩) (after a consonant) aspiration; (before a consonant) pre-aspiration; otherwise a weak, fleeting or epenthetic [h] – see ʰ.

2. (metrology) symbol for the prefix hecto-, indicating multiplication by 100
3. symbol of the hour
4. (italic) Planck's constant
5. helion
6. higgson
7. (transcription) aspiration
   • 2006, Robin Wooffitt, “Analysing the Organization of Successful Demonstrations of Paranormal Cognition”, in The Language of Mediums and Psychics: The Social Organization of Everyday Miracles (in English), Ashgate Publishing, →ISBN, page 70:

     PP: ^·hh⎡y’know-, / R: [I used it today Doris for the first time. / You used it today? / R: yea(huh)s (Smiling voice) / (0.3) / PP: t^·hhhh And ah’ve another voice come, an’ she says, she’s just bought a new cooker you know. ^·hh they know-, they get to know everythi:ng,

   • 2010, John Heritage, Steven Clayman, “Transcript Symbols”, in Talk in Action: Interactions, Identities, and Institutions (in English), →ISBN, pages 284 and 286:

     Bee: ^·hhh Uh::, (0.3) I don’know I guess she’s aw- she’s awright she went to thee uh:: hhospital again tihda:y, […] Hearable aspiration is shown where it occurs in the talk by the letter h – the more h’s, the more aspiration. The aspiration may represent breathing, laughter, etc. If it occurs inside the boundaries of a word, it may be enclosed in parentheses in order to set it apart from the sounds of the word. If the aspiration is an inhalation, it is shown with a dot before it (usually a raised dot) or a raised degree symbol. Bee: [Ba::]sk(h)etb(h)a(h)ll? (h)(°Whe(h)re.) […]

   • 2015, Simona Pekarek Doehler, Elwys De Stefani, Anne-Sylvie Horlacher, “The hanging topic construction as an interactional resource”, in Time and Emergence in Grammar: Dislocation, Topicalization and Hanging Topic in French Talk-in-Interaction (Studies in Language and Social Interaction; 28) (in English), John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, section 5 (Aphoristic HT formulations as closing devices), page 210:

     .hhhh (0.1) donc pour moi les hommes eu::h

Gallery

• Letter styles
• 
  Uppercase and lowercase versions of H, in normal and italic type
• 
  Uppercase and lowercase H in Fraktur

See also

Other representations of H:

NATO phonetic: Hotel Morse code: ···· Braille: ⠓ ASL Manual: H

Signal flag:

Semaphore:

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (letter name):
  • IPA^(key): /eɪt͡ʃ/
    • (General Australian) IPA^(key): [æɪt͡ʃ]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

    • Audio (UK):

      (file)

    • Rhymes: -eɪt͡ʃ
  • (regional or nonstandard) IPA^(key): /heɪt͡ʃ/
    • (Ireland) IPA^(key): [heːt͡ʃ]
    • (General Australian, nonstandard) IPA^(key): [hæɪt͡ʃ]
  • (South Asia) IPA^(key): /ɛt͡ʃ/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/, silent
• Rhymes: -eɪtʃ

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H, plural hs or h's)

1. The eighth letter of the English alphabet, called aitch and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letter; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Number

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The ordinal number eighth, derived from this letter of the English alphabet, called aitch and written in the Latin script.

Etymology 2

Abbreviations

Noun

h

1. (sciences) Abbreviation of hour (particularly when used as a (non-SI) unit of time alongside International System of Units (SI) units)
   • 1908, Francis Ernest Lloyd, The Physiology of Stomata, Carnegie Institution of Washington, page 83:

     Another instance: 2^h28^m p. m., 10 micra; 3^h08^m p. m., 0 micra; irrigated with water: 3^h09^m p. m., 4 micra.

2. (baseball, in statistics) Abbreviation of hit, the number of hits by a player
3. (slang) Abbreviation of heroin.
4. (computing) Abbreviation of hexadecimal (following a number)
   • 1989, PC: The Independent Guide to IBM Personal Computers:

     If any of the video buffer's background attribute bits are on, MONO converts the attribute to 70h (inverse video).

   • 1994, Jan Axelson, The microcontroller idea book, page 47:

     The commands assume that the NV memory is addressed beginning at 8000h in external data memory.

5. Abbreviation of home phone.

Verb

h

1. (stenoscript) Abbreviation of have and inflections having, had

   exception: hz 'has'

Etymology 3

Adjective

h (comparative more h, superlative most h)

1. Alternative form of H

Derived terms

• 1-h TL FM
• a-h conduction time
• aspirated h
• Germanic h
• h-back
• h bar
• h-dropping
• h-index
• h-prothesis
• h-system
• h-word
• mute h
• silent h
• unaspirated h
• ¼ h

 

See also

• Η (Greek eta)
• Н (Cyrillic en)

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h lower case (upper case H)

1. The eleventh letter of the Azerbaijani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) hərf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ə ə, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, X x, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, Q q, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

Basque

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Southern) /at͡ʃe/, [a.t͡ʃe̞]
• IPA^(key): (Northern) /hat͡ʃe/, [ɦa.t͡ʃe̞]

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Basque alphabet, called hatxe and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aː
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ɦaː/, /ɦɑʃ/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Dutch alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letter; A a (Á á, Ä ä), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, Ë ë), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ï ï, IJ ij), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ö ö), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ü ü), V v, W w, X x, Y y (Ý ý), Z z

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛ/
  • Conventional anglicization: he

Noun

 m

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: [Pyramid Texts to New Kingdom]
   1. courtyard
   2. room, hall

Inflection

Declension of h (masculine)

singular	h
dual	hwj
plural	hw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of h  

h	h	h	h	h
[Pyramid and Coffin Texts]	[Coffin Texts]	[Coffin Texts]

Derived terms

• jtnw n h

References

• “hʾ (lemma ID 97220)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎^[1], Corpus issue 17, Web app version 2.01 edition, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–15 December 2022
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1928) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 2, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 470.1–470.5
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 156
• van der Molen, Rami (2000) A Hieroglyphic Dictionary of Egyptian Coffin Texts, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 293

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ho/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Esperanto alphabet, called ho and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, Ĉ ĉ, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ĝ ĝ, H h, Ĥ ĥ, I i, J j, Ĵ ĵ, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, R r, S s, Ŝ ŝ, T t, U u, Ŭ ŭ, V v, Z z

Estonian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɑː/, [ˈ(h)ɑː]
• (dated) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑʃː/, [ˈ(h)ɑʃː]

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Estonian alphabet, called haa or hašš and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) täht; A a, B b (C c), D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Š š, Z z, Ž ž, T t, U u, V v (W w), Õ õ, Ä ä, Ö ö, Ü ü (X x, Y y)

Faroese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The ninth letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstavur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, Y y, Ý ý, Æ æ, Ø ø

Finnish

Etymology 1

The Finnish orthography using the Latin script was based on those of Swedish, German and Latin, and was first used in the mid-16th century. No earlier script is known. See the Wikipedia article on Finnish for more information, and h for information on the development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhoː/, [ˈho̞ː] (letter name)

• Audio: hoo, hahlo, Helsinki, hoo:

  (file)

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Finnish alphabet, called hoo and written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

compounds

• h-hetki
• h-viiva

 

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kirjain; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s (Š š), T t, U u, V v (W w), X x, Y y, Z z (Ž ž), Å å, Ä ä, Ö ö

Etymology 2

German musical notation.

Noun

h

1. (music) B (note)

Usage notes

Capitalized for the great octave or any octave below that, or in names of major keys; not capitalized for the small octave or any octave above that, or in names of minor keys.

Declension

Declension of h (type maa) singular plural nominative h h:t genitive h:n h:iden h:itten partitive h:ta h:ita accusative h h:n h:t inessive h:ssa h:issa elative h:sta h:ista illative h:hon h:ihin adessive h:lla h:illa ablative h:lta h:ilta allative h:lle h:ille essive h:na h:ina translative h:ksi h:iksi abessive h:tta h:itta instructive – h:in comitative – h:ineen

Derived terms

compounds

• H-duuri
• h-molli

 

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aʃ/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the French alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

• h aspiré
• h muet

Symbol

h

1. Used to indicate the hour in a time indication, either with or without following minutes.

   10h ― 10:00 a.m.

   20h30 ― 8:30 p.m.

Fula

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. A letter of the Fula alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• Common to all varieties of Fula (Fulfulde / Pulaar / Pular).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) karfeeje; ', A a, B b, Mb mb, Ɓ ɓ, C c, D d, Nd nd, Ɗ ɗ, E e, F f, G g, Ng ng, Ɠ ɠ, H h, I i, J j, Nj nj, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, Ñ ñ, Ɲ ɲ, O o, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Ƴ ƴ

German

Etymology 1

Letter

h

1. the letter h, see H

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uːɐ̯/

Noun

h

1. (common, not restricted to scientific usage) hour

   15:30 h

   3:30 p.m.

   (read out as: fünfzehn Uhr dreißig, or halb vier)

Gothic

Romanization

h

1. Romanization of 𐌷

Hungarian

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): [ˈx]
• (letter name): IPA^(key): [ˈhaː]

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The fourteenth letter of the Hungarian alphabet, called há and written in the Latin script.
2. (music) Alternative form of H (“B”, the seventh note in the C major scale, its symbol in writing or in print, or the equivalent key of a piano or stop of a stringed instrument)

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	h	h-k
accusative	h-t	h-kat
dative	h-nak	h-knak
instrumental	h-val	h-kkal
causal-final	h-ért	h-kért
translative	h-vá	h-kká
terminative	h-ig	h-kig
essive-formal	h-ként	h-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	h-ban	h-kban
superessive	h-n	h-kon
adessive	h-nál	h-knál
illative	h-ba	h-kba
sublative	h-ra	h-kra
allative	h-hoz	h-khoz
elative	h-ból	h-kból
delative	h-ról	h-król
ablative	h-tól	h-któl
non-attributive possessive - singular	h-é	h-ké
non-attributive possessive - plural	h-éi	h-kéi

Possessive forms of h
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	h-m	h-im
2nd person sing.	h-d	h-id
3rd person sing.	h-ja	h-i
1st person plural	h-nk	h-ink
2nd person plural	h-tok	h-itok
3rd person plural	h-juk	h-ik

Derived terms

• H-dúr
• h-moll

 

See also

• B, b (“B-flat”)

Etymology 2

Abbreviation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhoɟ]

Conjunction

h

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Abbreviation of hogy (“that”).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) betű; A a, Á á, B b, C c, Cs cs, D d, Dz dz, Dzs dzs, E e, É é, F f, G g, Gy gy, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, Ly ly, M m, N n, Ny ny, O o, Ó ó, Ö ö, Ő ő, P p, R r, S s, Sz sz, T t, Ty ty, U u, Ú ú, Ü ü, Ű ű, V v, Z z, Zs zs. Only in the extended alphabet: Q q W w X x Y y. Commonly used: ch. Also defined: à ë. In surnames (selection): ä aa cz ds eé eö ew oe oó th ts ÿ.

Further reading

• (h [sound or letter]): h in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (B in music): h in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): /hauː/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Icelandic alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstafur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, É é, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, X x, Y y, Ý ý, Þ þ, Æ æ, Ö ö

Ido

Pronunciation

• (context pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h/
• (letter name) IPA^(key): /he/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Ido alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litero; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /ha/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Indonesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) huruf; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Prefix

h

1. marker of h-prothesis

   na habhann ― of the river

   fáilte go hÉirinn ― welcome to Ireland

   chomh hard le crann ― as tall as a tree

Italian

Letter

h f or m (invariable, lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Italian alphabet, called acca and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lettera; A a (À à), B b, C c, D d, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Πî, J j, K k), L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v (W w, X x, Y y), Z z

Kashubian

Etymology

The Kashubian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Kashubian alphabet article on Wikipedia for more, and h for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The twelfth letter of the Kashubian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, àã, B b, C c, D d, E e, É é, Ë ë, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, O o, Ò ò, Ó ó, Ô ô, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ù ù, W w, Y y, Z z, Ż ż

Latvian

Etymology

Proposed in 1908 as part of the new Latvian spelling by the scientific commission headed by K. Mīlenbahs, which was accepted and began to be taught in schools in 1909. Prior to that, Latvian had been written in German Fraktur, and sporadically in Cyrillic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [x]

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

H

h (upper case H)

1. The twelfth letter of the Latvian alphabet, called hā and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

The letter H/h (like F/f, and O/o representing [o], [oː] instead of [uə̯]) is found only in words of foreign origin (borrowings). Note that it represents the sound of IPA [x] (like German machen, ach), not (as in most other alphabets based on the Latin script) the sound of IPA [h].

See also

• Letters of the Latvian alphabet:

  burti: Aa, Āā, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ēē, Ff, Gg, Ģģ, Hh, Ii, Īī, Jj, Kk, Ķķ, Ll, Ļļ, Mm, Nn, Ņņ, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Ūū, Vv, Zz, Žž

Livonian

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /x/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The twelfth letter of the Livonian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) kēratēd̦; A a, Ā ā, Ä ä, Ǟ ǟ, B b, D d, D̦ d̦, E e, Ē ē, F f, G g, H h, I i, Ī ī, J j, K k, L l, Ļ ļ, M m, N n, Ņ ņ, O o, Ō ō, Ȯ ȯ, Ȱ ȱ, Õ õ, Ȭ ȭ, P p, R r, Ŗ ŗ, S s, Š š, T t, Ț ț, U u, Ū ū, V v, Z z, Ž ž

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• Silent in most native words.
• IPA^(key): (in most loanwords and some native words) /h/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The eleventh letter of the Lower Sorbian alphabet, called ha and written in the Latin script.

See also

• See Template:list:Latin script letters/dsb.

Lushootseed

Letter

h

1. The fourteenth letter of the Lushootseed alphabet, pronounced as a voiceless glottal fricative.

Malay

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Malay alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Maltese

Etymology

Continues Arabic ه (h). In pre-modern Maltese, h still produces the sound [h] as recorded by Agius de Soldanis (1750) and Mikel Anton Vassalli (1796). The early contemporary variant was first found in the dialect of lsien tal-bliet (“tongues of the cities”, referring to the cities around the Grand Harbour according to Vassalli) which eventually superceded the increasingly archaic [h] sound in the neighborhing areas.

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /-/, /ː/, /j/, /w/, /ħ/
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /h/, /ħ/ (archaic)

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Maltese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• In contemporary Maltese, h remains a true consonant [ħ] in the following cases:
  • in word-final position or when being the last radical of a verb: ikrah [ˈɪkraħ], jixbhu [ˈjɪʃpħʊ];
  • before the negative ending -x: jarawhx [jaˈrawħʃ];
  • in the clusters -għh-, -ħh-, -hh-, which all become [ħħ].
• Otherwise it is silent or leaves only a vocalic trace:
  • Following and preceding a, e, o are lengthened if stressed: hedded [ˈɛːddɛt], fehmet [ˈfɛːmɛt]. Other vowels are not affected.
  • In intervocalic position it is a glide, [j] after i, ie, and [w] after u: jibniha [jɪbˈnɪːja], inħobbuhom [ɪnħɔbˈbuːwɔm].
  • The sequence -aho- becomes [ɔː]: rahom [rɔːm]. The sequence -ehi- becomes [ɛj] or [ɛˈjiː]: ftehim [ftɛjm], [ftɛˈjiːm].
• On the other hand in pre-modern Maltese dialects that preserved the guttaral sounds, h remained as a true consonant with the aspirated and soft sound of [h] in all positions except:
  • If word final h is an affixed pronoun: ħalluh [χal.lʊːħ], ħallih [χal.lɪːħ], fih [fɪːħ].
• Phonotactically, word-initial h now generally behaves like a vowel, allowing contractions such as m’hemmx [mɛːmʃ]. However, word-internal h still behaves like a (virtual) consonant. Compare for example qablu [ˈʔablʊ] with qabilha [ʔaˈbɪla], which latter is formed as though the l were followed by a consonant.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) ittra; A a, B b, Ċ ċ, D d, E e, F f, Ġ ġ, G g, Għ għ, H h, Ħ ħ, I i, Ie ie, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Ż ż, Z z

Norwegian

Pronunciation

• (letter name): IPA^(key): /hɔː/
• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/

• Audio:

  (file)

Letter

h

1. The eighth letter of the Norwegian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• When written before j, the h becomes silent.

Nupe

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Nupe alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) banki; A a (Á á, À à), B b, C c, D d, Dz dz, E e (É é, È è), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì), J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò), P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, Ts ts, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù), V v, W w, Y y, Z z, Zh zh

Polish

Etymology 1

The Polish orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the history of Polish orthography article on Wikipedia for more, and h for development of the glyph itself.

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /x/, (dialectal) /h/; [ɣ], [ɦ] if voiced
• (name of letter) IPA^(key): /xa/

Letter

h (upper case H, lower case)

1. The eleventh letter of the Polish alphabet, called ha and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• Seemingly native words spelt with ⟨h⟩ (rather than ⟨ch⟩) are generally from Czech or other Slavic dialects. Otherwise ⟨h⟩ occurs in loanwords, especially from German. Some southern speakers distinguish between /x/ and /h/, but this is not part of standard Polish.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ą ą, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, Ę ę, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ó ó, P p (Q q), R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u (V v), W w (X x), Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

Etymology 2

Derived from Latin hōra.

Noun

h f

1. Abbreviation of godzina (“hour”).

Further reading

• h in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• h in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Name: see agá

• Audio (Brazil):

  (file)

Letter:

• in most words: silent
• in expressive terms and recent loanwords: IPA^(key): /h/, [h], [ɦ], [ʁ]

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Portuguese alphabet, called agá and written in the Latin script.
   1. silent letter used mainly in words derived from Latin, Greek and other Romance languages; word-initial only

      hoje, hábito, hipnose, hotel ― today, habit, hypnosis, hotel

      1. (chiefly obsolete) silent letter used word-medially in loanwords

         coherente (now coerente) ― coherent

      2. (obsolete except in given names) used in the Hellenistic digraphs th, ph and rh

         thesouro (now tesouro), phalange (now falange), rheumatismo (now reumatismo), Cynthia (alongside Cíntia) ― treasure, phalanx, rheumatism, Cynthia

      3. (obsolete except in given names) used in words perceived to be Hellenisms

         thesoura (now tesoura), Nathalia ― scissors, Natalie

   2. represents /h/ in most recent loanwords from other languages, most commonly English

      hardcore, hacker, hall

      hardcore punk, hacker, entry hall

   3. used in the digraphs ch, lh and nh, where it indicates a palatal or post-alveolar pronunciation

      cheio, alho, banho ― full, garlic, bath

   4. (obsolete) silent letter used word-initially in monosyllabic verbs with no attack

      hir (now ir), he (now é) ― to go, is

   5. silent letter used syllable-finally in some interjections

      ih! oh! ― uh oh! ooh!

   6. represents /h/ in some expressive terms

      hahaha! aham, hue hue ― hahaha! yep, hehehe

   7. (chiefly Internet slang) used as a replacement for the acute or circumflex accent, or silent infinitive -r, indicating stress

      eh (standard é), Feh (standard Fê), fazeh (standard fazer) ― is, a nickname, to do

   8. (obsolete except in the word Bahia) silent letter used to mark some hiatus

      sahir (now sair), bahia (now baía)

      to leave, bay

See also

• (Latin-script letters) letra; A a (Á á, À à,  â, àã), B b, C c (Ç ç), D d, E e (É é, Ê ê), F f, G g, H h, I i (Í í), J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o (Ó ó, Ô ô, Õ õ), P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u (Ú ú), V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Noun

h f (invariable)

1. Abbreviation of hora.
   1. used to indicate time in relation to a 24-hour clock

      O evento é hoje, às 20h ― The event is today at 8 p.m.

      09h30 ― 09:30 a.m.

   2. used to indicate any sequence of time in hours

      O atleta completou a corrida em 1h20min45s ― The athlete completed the race in 1 hour, 21 minutes and 45 seconds

Usage notes

• This abbreviation uses no spaces or points and must always follow a number (in its most common usage, a number between 0 and 23 to indicate the day's hours).
• The abbreviation can be followed by a number between 00 and 59 to indicate the minutes of an hour (as in French). This can be optionally represented by another abbreviation: min.
  • Example: 15h30 or 15h30min, the first being much more common
• min can be further followed by another abbreviation, s, to represent seconds.
  • Example: 20h43min08s

Romani

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. (International Standard) The tenth letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.
2. (Pan-Vlax) The eleventh letter of the Romani alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, X x, I i, J j, K k, Kh kh, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Ph ph, R r, S s, T t, Th th, U u, V v, Z z International Standard: (À à, Ä ä, Ǎ ǎ), Ć ć, Ćh ćh, (È è, Ë ë, Ě ě), (Ì ì, Ï ï, Ǐ ǐ), (Ò ò, Ö ö, Ǒ ǒ), Rr rr, Ś ś, (Ù ù, Ü ü, Ǔ ǔ), Ź ź, Ʒ ʒ, Q q, Ç ç, ϴ θ. Pan-Vlax: Č č, Čh čh, Dž dž, (Dź dź), Ř ř, Š š, (Ś ś), Ž ž, (Ź ź).

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Romanian alphabet, called haș, ha, or hî and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, Ă ă,  â, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Πî, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, Ș ș, T t, Ț ț, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Scottish Gaelic

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Scottish Gaelic alphabet, written in the Latin script. It is preceded by g and followed by i. Its traditional name is uath (“hawthorn”).

See also

• (Latin-script letters) litir; A a (À à), B b (Bh bh), C c (Ch ch), D d (Dh dh), E e (È è), F f (Fh fh), G g (Gh gh), H h, I i (Ì ì), L l, M m (Mh mh), N n, O o (Ò ò), P p (Ph ph), R r, S s (Sh sh), T t (Th th), U u (Ù ù)
• (diacritics) ◌̀
• (obsolete vowels) Á á É é Ó ó

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• H (uppercase)

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /x/

Letter

h (Cyrillic spelling х)

1. The 12th letter of the Serbo-Croatian Latin alphabet (gajica), preceded by g and followed by i.

Silesian

Etymology

The Silesian orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. No earlier script is known. See the Silesian language article on Wikipedia for more, and h for development of the glyph itself.

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Silesian alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, àã, B b, C c, Ć ć, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, Ł ł, M m, N n, Ń ń, O o, Ŏ ŏ, Ō ō, Ô ô, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Ś ś, T t, U u, W w, Y y, Z z, Ź ź, Ż ż

Skolt Sami

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /x/, /h/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The fifteenth letter of the Skolt Sami alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bukva; A a,  â, B b, C c, Č č, Ʒ ʒ, Ǯ ǯ, D d, Đ đ, E e, F f, G g, Ǧ ǧ, Ǥ ǥ, H h, I i, J j, K k, Ǩ ǩ, L l, M m, N n, Ŋ ŋ, O o, Õ õ, P p, R r, S s, Š š, T t, U u, V v, Z z, Ž ž, Å å, Ä ä, ʹ

Slovene

Alternative forms

See usage notes for both etymologies.

Etymology 1

From Gaj's Latin alphabet h, from Czech alphabet h, from Latin h. Pronunciation as /xə/ is initial Slovene (phoneme plus a fill vowel) and the second pronunciation is probably taken from German h.

Pronunciation

(phoneme) Pronunciation of h

• (Standard Slovene, tonal) IPA(key): /x/, [ɣ], SNPT: /h/, [ɣ] • (Standard Slovene, non-tonal) IPA(key): /x/, [ɣ], SNPT: /h/, [ɣ]

Note:different distinctions and accent shifts do not necessarily exclude other and most of them exist in both tonal and non-tonal Slovene.

(letter name) Pronunciation of h [hə̀, há] (ə̏, ā)

• (Standard Slovene, tonal) IPA(key): [ˈxə̂], [ˈxâː], [ˈxǎː], SNPT: [hə̏], [hā] • (Standard Slovene, non-tonal) IPA(key): [ˈxə], [ˈxaː], SNPT: [hə̀], [hā], Audio: (file)

Note:different distinctions and accent shifts do not necessarily exclude other and most of them exist in both tonal and non-tonal Slovene.

Miscellaneous

• Alpine Slavic (1000–1200 AD): *hə̀     • Carinthian dialect plane: *hə̏     • Veneitian–Karst dialect plane: *hə̏     • Soča–Idrija dialect plane: *hə̏     • Upper Carniolan dialect plane: *hə̏     • Lower Carniolan dialect plane: *hə̏     • Southern Styrian dialect plane: *hə̏     • Northern Styrian dialect plane: *hə̏     • Pannonian dialect plane: *hə̏

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The ninth letter of the Slovene alphabet, written in the Latin script.
2. The fourteenth letter of the Slovene alphabet (Resian), written in the Latin script.
3. The tenth letter of the Slovene alphabet (Natisone Valley dialect), written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

In Metelko alphabet, the phoneme was written by two different letters whether it was pronounced as velar /x/ or glottal /h/, a distinction irrelevant to nowadays standard and the distinction was also not used by all writers. Phoneme /h/ was written with 〈h〉, while /x/ was written with a yet to be encoded character .

Symbol

h

1. (SNPT for Standard Slovene) Phonetic transcription of sound [x].
2. (dialectal SNPT) Phonetic transcription of sounds [h, ħ].

Noun

h m inan or f

1. The name of the Latin script letter H / h.
2. (linguistics) The name of the phoneme /x/.

Inflection

• Overall more common

First masculine declension (soft o-stem, inanimate) , fixed accent, -j- infix
nom. sing.	h
gen. sing.	h-ja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	h	h-ja	h-ji
genitive rodȋlnik	h-ja	h-jev	h-jev
dative dajȃlnik	h-ju, h-ji	h-jema	h-jem
accusative tožȋlnik	h	h-ja	h-je
locative mẹ̑stnik	h-ju, h-ji	h-jih	h-jih
instrumental orọ̑dnik	h-jem	h-jema	h-ji
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	h	h-ja	h-ji

• More common when with a definite adjective

Third masculine declension (no endings) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	h
gen. sing.	h
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	h	h	h
genitive rodȋlnik	h	h	h
dative dajȃlnik	h	h	h
accusative tožȋlnik	h	h	h
locative mẹ̑stnik	h	h	h
instrumental orọ̑dnik	h	h	h
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	h	h	h

• Dialectal, in common written language used till 19th century

First masculine declension (hard o-stem, inanimate) , -j- infix
nom. sing.	h
gen. sing.	h-ja
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	h	h-ja	h-ji
genitive rodȋlnik	h-ja	h-jov	h-jov
dative dajȃlnik	h-ju, h-ji	h-joma	h-jom
accusative tožȋlnik	h	h-ja	h-je
locative mẹ̑stnik	h-ju, h-ji	h-jih	h-jih
instrumental orọ̑dnik	h-jom	h-joma	h-ji
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	h	h-ja	h-ji

• Rare

Third feminine declension (no endings) , fixed accent
nom. sing.	h
gen. sing.	h
	singular	dual	plural
nominative imenovȃlnik	h	h	h
genitive rodȋlnik	h	h	h
dative dajȃlnik	h	h	h
accusative tožȋlnik	h	h	h
locative mẹ̑stnik	h	h	h
instrumental orọ̑dnik	h	h	h
(vocative) (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)	h	h	h

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *kъ 'to', which is itself probably from Proto-Indo-European *k^u̯u 'where'. This form is a spirantization of k, which appeared to ease the pronunciation.

Pronunciation

(usually) Pronunciation of h

• (Standard Slovene, tonal) IPA(key): [x], [ɣ], SNPT: [h], [ɣ] (see also usage notes) • (Standard Slovene, non-tonal) IPA(key): [x], [ɣ], SNPT: [h], [ɣ] (see also usage notes)

Note:different distinctions and accent shifts do not necessarily exclude other and most of them exist in both tonal and non-tonal Slovene.

(often colloquially or when trying to stress it, considered incorrect by Slovenski pravopis) Pronunciation of h [hə]

• (Standard Slovene, tonal) IPA(key): [xə], SNPT: [hə] • (Standard Slovene, non-tonal) IPA(key): [xə], SNPT: [hə]

Note:different distinctions and accent shifts do not necessarily exclude other and most of them exist in both tonal and non-tonal Slovene.

(outside of original context) Pronunciation of h [hə̀] (ə̏)

• (Standard Slovene, tonal) IPA(key): [ˈxə́], SNPT: [hə̏] • (Standard Slovene, non-tonal) IPA(key): [ˈxə], SNPT: [hə̀]

Note:different distinctions and accent shifts do not necessarily exclude other and most of them exist in both tonal and non-tonal Slovene.

Miscellaneous

• Alpine Slavic (1000–1200 AD): *k     • Carinthian dialect plane: *k     • Veneitian–Karst dialect plane: =*k     • Soča–Idrija dialect plane: *k     • Upper Carniolan dialect plane: *k     • Lower Carniolan dialect plane: *k     • Southern Styrian dialect plane: *k     • Northern Styrian dialect plane: *k     • Pannonian dialect plane: *k

Preposition

h

1. (with dative, see usage notes) to, for

Usage notes

Preposition h is a form of preposition k that appears before words that start with /k/ or /ɡ/ while other form is used for all other words. In "correct" pronunciation, the preposition does not form its own syllable, but binds to the first syllable of the next word and has therefore two pronunciations: [x] if word starts with [k] and [ɣ] if word starts with [ɡ]. In colloquial speech, this form (or at least its pronunciation) are also used with words starting with other letters.

See also

• (Latin script letters) Aa, Bb, Cc, Čč, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Šš, Tt, Uu, Vv, Zz, Žž

References

• Kenda-Jež, Karmen (2017 February 27) Fonetična trankripcija [Phonetic transcription]‎^[3] (in Slovene), Znanstvenoraziskovalni center SAZU, Inštitut za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša, archived from the original on January 22, 2022, pages 27–30

Further reading

• “h”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (letter name) /ˈat͡ʃe/ [ˈa.t͡ʃe]

• Audio (Spain):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -atʃe

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Spanish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Derived terms

• por h o por b

 

Swedish

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Swedish alphabet, written in the Latin script.

Noun

h

1. (nonstandard, anglicism) Abbreviation of hour from English.

   Synonyms: timme, tim.

2. (strictly technology) Abbreviation of hora from Latin.

   Synonyms: timme, tim.

3. (music) B, note with a frequency close to 493.88 · 2ⁿ Hz

   Synonym: (anglicism) b

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish h. Each pronunciation has a different source:

• Filipino alphabet pronunciation is influenced by English h.
• Abakada alphabet pronunciation is influenced by Baybayin character ᜑ (ha).
• Abecedario pronunciation is from Spanish h.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʔejt͡ʃ/ [ˈʔɛɪ̯t͡ʃ] (letter name, Filipino alphabet)
    • Rhymes: -ejt͡ʃ
  • IPA^(key): /ˈha/ [ˈha] (letter name, Abakada alphabet)
    • Rhymes: -a
  • IPA^(key): /ˈʔat͡ʃe/ [ˈʔaː.t͡ʃɛ] (letter name, Abecedario)
    • Rhymes: -at͡ʃe
  • IPA^(key): /h/ [h] (phoneme; silent in Spanish unadapted loanwards)

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H, Baybayin spelling ᜁᜌ᜔ᜆ᜔ᜐ᜔)

1. The eighth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Filipino alphabet), called eyts and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) titik; A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ñ ñ, Ng ng, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H, Baybayin spelling ᜑ)

1. The seventh letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abakada alphabet), called ha and written in the Latin script.

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H, Baybayin spelling ᜀᜆ᜔ᜐᜒ)

1. (historical) The ninth letter of the Tagalog alphabet (the Abecedario), called hache and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• Over time, some of the loaned Spanish words still spelled with the silent ⟨h⟩ are spoken with /h/ due to spelling pronunciation, as people are becoming less aware of the letter being silent.

See also

• ch

 

Further reading

• “h”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Turkish

Pronunciation

• (letter name) IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈheː/, /ˈhaʃ/
• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /h/, [ç]

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The tenth letter of the Turkish alphabet, called he and written in the Latin script.

Usage notes

• See H.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) harf; A a, B b, C c, Ç ç, D d, E e, F f, G g, Ğ ğ, H h, I ı, İ i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, V v, Y y, Z z

Turkmen

Pronunciation

• (phoneme) IPA^(key): /h~x/

Letter

h (upper case H)

1. The ninth letter of the Turkmen alphabet, called he and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) harp; A a, B b, Ç ç, D d, E e, Ä ä, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, Ž ž, K k, L l, M m, N n, Ň ň, O o, Ö ö, P p, R r, S s, Ş ş, T t, U u, Ü ü, W w, Y y, Ý ý, Z z

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /h/

Prefix

h

1. marker of h-prothesis

   ei hiaith ― her language

   i’n heglwys ― to our church

   un ar hugain ― twenty-one

Yoruba

Pronunciation

• (phoneme): IPA^(key): /h/
• (letter name): IPA^(key): /hí/

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The ninth letter of the Yoruba alphabet, called hí and written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) lẹ́tà; A a (Á á, À à, Ā ā), B b, D d, E e (É é, È è, Ē ē), Ẹ ẹ (Ẹ́ ẹ́, Ẹ̀ ẹ̀, Ẹ̄ ẹ̄), F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i (Í í, Ì ì, Ī ī), J j, K k, L l, M m (Ḿ ḿ, M̀ m̀, M̄ m̄), N n (Ń ń, Ǹ ǹ, N̄ n̄), O o (Ó ó, Ò ò, Ō ō), Ọ ọ (Ọ́ ọ́, Ọ̀ ọ̀, Ọ̄ ọ̄), P p, R r, S s, Ṣ ṣ, T t, U u (Ú ú, Ù ù, Ū ū), W w, Y y
• (Benin) (Latin-script letters) lɛ́tà; A a, B b, D d, E e, Ɛ ɛ, F f, G g, Gb gb, H h, I i, J j, K k, Kp kp, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ɔ ɔ, P p, R r, S s, Sh sh, T t, U u, W w, Y y

Zulu

Letter

h (lower case, upper case H)

1. The eighth letter of the Zulu alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) A a, B b, C c, D d, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, P p, Q q, R r, S s, T t, U u, V v, W w, X x, Y y, Z z