Mute h

The French word homme ("man") begins with a mute h. Consequently we can say l'homme /l‿ɔm/ and les hommes /le‿zɔm/, but never /lə ɔm/ and /le ɔm/, like we do with the aspirated h.

Whether the h be a mute h or an aspirate h, it may be regarded in either case as absolutely silent.

In French initial h’s are called either mute h’s (the greatest number) or aspirate h’s (fewer in number, but frequent nonetheless).

The only difference between the two is that a mute h allows contractions and liaisons in front of it, and an aspirated h does not.