Word Sounds...

When I was younger, I used to have a real hang up about certain english language words. Some words could really irritate me when I heard them. If I recall right, bun and pearl were two of the cluprits and I had serious reasoning around just the way they sound. Bun was because the sound jumped up and then quickly dissappeared. The word jumps up and announces itself then scurries away into a corner and hides. I think my issue with the word pearl is to do with the ambiguous 'r' 'l' sound on the end. Do you dilute the 'r' sound to smooth the word out or do you go in full guns blazing and roll the 'r' with the staccato scottish machine gun 'r'. "Purrrre Scooterrrred!!"

I have mellowed out a little in my attitude to language and spoken word to the point where I can appreciate the tapestry of all the wonderfully different nuances within just one language across many geographical locations that you can come across.

Now on a slightly related topic with the international contingent of Blip coming in handy here, I was wondering about the silent 'h' in American english. I remember first coming into contact with it through an episode of 90's classic Teen TV show, Saved By the Bell. The word 'herbs'. Every indication seems to say that the common pronounciation of this in America is with a silent 'h', making it 'erbs'. Now I have always wondered merely out of curiosity, whether there is a rule taught at american schools that this comes from or is it just the learning outside of school that has kept the 'h' from showing itself in the spoken version of the word. If it is taught as a rule at school, is there any other words that use this silent 'h'?

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Notes on the Picture...
Don't you just love it when conditions let you use the Sunny 16 rule? Yes, I have done a similar shot to this some point in the past but I love the resultant image it gives and my model was ever so helpful in getting this just as I wanted it.