Consonants HW, HJ

The sequence wh, as in which, was formerly widely pronounced as [hw] (or [M]) in the South; Kurath and McDavid (1961) found it in all parts of the South except the Low Country and part of Maryland. Nearly all young Southerners today produce it as [w], however. LAGS found that better-educated speakers were more likely to distinguish wh.

Pronunciation of the /hj/ sequence, as in huge and Houston, as /j/ occurs sporadically; most published reports of it are from Texas.