Herb and Basil are men’s names. Herb is also the name of a herbaceous plant; basil is a kind of herb. In British English, the men’s names and the herb are pronounced identically. In American English, “herb” for the plant drops the “h”; “basil” as an herb has a long “a,” so it is pronounced differently from the name.
The word “herb” comes from the Old French erbe, which became herbe in Modern French, gaining the “h” from the Latin original (herba) but not the “h” sound. British English followed suit until the 19th century, when the “h” sound started to be pronounced; American English inherited the French pronunciation and stuck with it.
Sticking with words inherited from the French, courgette (meaning “small gourd” in French), aubergine and coriander are the British English alternatives for zucchini (from Italian), eggplant (from its appearance) and cilantro (from Spanish), respectively, used in American English. In the US, cilantro is the name for the leaves and stem of the plant; coriander the name for its dried seeds. In British English, the latter are called coriander seeds, to differentiate them from the leaves.
In addition to the different pronunciation of the herb basil between British and American English, the two have different stress for the word “oregano.” In British English, “oregano” has the stress on the third vowel; in US English, the stress is on the second.
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
Herb（賀柏）和Basil（巴佐）是男性的名字，herb（藥草）亦泛指某一類草本植物，Basil（羅勒）則是其中一種。在英式英文中，herb這個字當人名和藥草時的發音相同。在美式英文中，herb當藥草時字母「h」的音會省略；basil這個字當羅勒時字母「a」的音會拉長，跟名字唸法有所差異。
英文字「herb」源自於古代法文的「erbe」，這個字已演變為現代法文的「herbe」，雖然拼字上受其拉丁字源（herba）影響多了一個「h」，不過並不發音。英式英文便依循此規，直到十九世紀才開始發出「h」音；美式英文承繼原來的法式唸法，並堅持到今日。
在英式英文中堅持法式傳統的字還有︰courgette（法文的小葫蘆）、aubergine（茄子）、coriander（香菜、芫荽）。這些字在美式英文中分別稱為︰zucchini（美洲南瓜，源自義大利文）、eggplant（茄子，源自外形）、cilantro（香菜、芫荽，源自西班牙文）。在美國，cilantro是指香菜的葉與莖，coriander是指其乾燥的種子。在英國，香菜種子叫coriander seeds以和香菜葉有所區隔。
除了藥草／羅勒在英式和美式英文中發音不同，另一種草本植物oregano（牛至）在兩者中重音亦不同︰「oregano」一字以英式英文發音，重音是在第三個母音；若以美式英文發音，其重音則是在第二個母音。
（台北時報張聖恩譯）
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