Language, an important human behavior, slowly but constantly evolves from older forms to newer ones. Also our greetings through time have changed several times:
12th
Century
HALLOW
Chaucer(1340)
Europe
16th
Century
HALLOO
Shakespeare(1564-1616)
England
19th
Century
HULLO
U.S.A
20th
Century
HELLO Thomas Alva
Edison(1847-1931) New Haven, CT
21st
Century
HEAVENO Leonso Canales,Jr. (1940-
)
Kingsville, TX
Hello took life in 1878 when Thomas Alva Edison said the first
word through the newly invented telephone. Who really
knows, the news media was not around at the time to give us an
accurate account. He could have said, "Hullo,"
jokingly and mistakenly misprinted. The fact is that Hello
was printed by Noah Webster's dictionary in 1883.
The telephone kept expanding, and so did the greeting.
As the greeting "Hello" kept growing it soon became a
general greeting. Webster's dictionary kept on printing
"Hello" as a greeting word. Alexander Graham Bell
(1847-1922) rejected the "Hello" greeting all his
life. His greeting was "Ahoy, Ahoy!" The
dictionaries became a standard foundation for the language and
continued to promote the word as our standard greeting. We
never questioned it; we took it for granted and learned it as it
was always there..., and strangely enough it has become our most
used word on a daily basis. "I" is the
second. This negative phenomenon possibly has set its
pattern. We have been too busy and too involved in our
daily doings to see the whole picture. Until a person born
in Kingsville, Texas questioned the connotation of the word
"Hello." The "O" is not enough to
hide the most negative word (Hell) printed
in every dictionary! This greeting word
"Hello" has been upon us for 117 years!
Maybe subconsciously we have promoted and fueled the wrong
message.
Let's now understand that we all have been misled. We
should now put it behind us and call the 20th century negative
and obsolete. We should now set a new example and set a new
precedent! It is up to us now to make a
change and start setting and paving a new road for our youth and
ourselves. Let's show the rest of the world that we are
united, friendly, and unique people.
Let's now begin working towards the next 100 years with a more harmonious, intelligent, and positive new universal greeting: "HEAVENO!" A symbol of Peace, friendship and Welcome!
Morris Dictionary(1962)
hello: Legend has it that Thomas Alva Edison
himself was the first to say hello over the telephone
Alexander Graham Bell, who is reported to have used "Hoy" or "Ahoy" all his life, rejecting "Hello."