Consonants H

Vernacular varieties of NfldE of SW English origin are characterized by an /h/ patterning very different from the lexically-inherited pattern of standard English. In these varieties, /h/ is not a segmental phoneme but rather, displays a conditioned phonotactic distribution: [h] may be inserted before any syllable-initial vowel, the likelihood of insertion increasing when this vowel occurs in a stressed syllable, and when it is preceded by another vocalic segment. Thus each of the phonetic sequences [dæt'hεɹ] and [dæɾ'εɹ​] may represent either that hair or that air. H-insertion in the latter type of sequence is highly stigmatized, however; possibly as a consequence, some speakers in English-settled areas exhibit a simple tendency towards syllable-onset h-deletion in all environments.

On the Irish Avalon, and in all standard varieties of NfldE, /h/ patterning is lexically determined, just as in standard English. The sole exception, in Irish-settled areas, is the pronunciation of the name of the letter h as haitch.