A few days ago I noted on Facebook that most Canadians I know pronounce the word "asphalt" as "ash-fault". Where did that "h" after the "as" come from, and how did this happen?
The first time I heard this pronunciation after moving to Canada from the US, I thought someone was mispronouncing the word, but judging from the comments on Facebook, "ash-fault" seems to be a very common pronunciation in Canada. Also, from Wikipaedia,
- Many Canadians pronounce asphalt as "ash-falt" /ˈæʃfɒlt/.[28] This pronunciation is also common in Australian English, but not in General American English or British English.
Also, from Wiktionary,
Pronunciation
In the pronunciation code, the stretch-S (or integral sign for math jocks) means to pronounce the "s" with an "sh" sound.
How did this pronunciation evolve and become so common in Canada? Are Canucks just trying to be polite and not say the word "ass"? Or is there some other explanation? And how has this pronunciation become so dominant in Canada (and New Zealand and Australia) despite the spelling of the word?