Amol Rajan has pledged to change the way he pronounces the letter H after complaining about his incorrect pronunciation during his time as University Challenge presenter.
Former Broadcasting Company Editor independentdrew criticism from viewers of the popular quiz show after saying “haitch” instead of “aitch.”
In a blog post published before the series finale titled “7 Lessons from the First Series of My College Challenge,” he wrote: “My whole life I’ve pronounced it ‘haitch,’ vaguely Realized I pronounced it “wrong.” Everyone I grew up with said “haitch.” My friends said “haitch.”
But, dear reader, I’m here to tell you: it’s “aitch.” This is important to a lot of people, which is fair. “
He added that although he switched to the preferred “aitch,” “haitch” is listed as a variant in the Oxford English Dictionary.
Mr Rajan, 40, who also co-presents Channel 4’s Today programme, did not elaborate further on why he suddenly decided to change the pronunciation of the letter.
However, he was criticized by newspapers and online for saying “haitch” instead of “aitch.”
Sunday Times reader Geoff Carr wrote in the paper: “I agree that the proliferation of ‘problems’ is truly terrible. Amorajan college challenge (BBC2) Sounds like a kid. Where did this come from? “Aitch” is easier to say and more pleasant to the ear. “
A user on In the bud…”
Another said: “Why do so many people pronounce the letter ‘H’ as ‘haitch’ now, including Amol Rajan on #r4today? It’s horrible and smacks of capital-hungry. “
Many regular BBC contributors use “haitch”, including TV presenter Graham Norton and radio presenter Nick Grimshaw.
Mr. Rajan became host of College Challenge last July, replacing long-time host Jeremy Paxman.
Kate Burridge, a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Freiburg and a professor of linguistics at Monash University, has previously written for The Independent that “haitch” may be a bad word for people learning English. It’s a helpful pronunciation.
She writes: “Whatever your gut reaction to the H sound, haitch has clear benefits for letter-sound learning.
“So it’s no surprise that it thrives in some parts of the English-speaking world. When the letter H begins with the letter sound it makes, children can learn its correspondences more easily when learning to read.”
