Department of Physics, Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa-403 203 Manuscript received 30 August 1993 Following an earlier method given by Mande et al for evaluating the electronegativity values sopectroscopically, we have in the present work determined the electronegativity of hydrogen by extrapolation of the electronegativity values of the group lA elements, which have the outer electronic configuration ns1, and their atomic numbers. Our value of the electronegativity for hydrogen, which is essentially the property of the donor hydrogen atom like that of all elements or the lA group, comes out to be 1.29. This value is considerably smaller than the values given hitherto by Pauling and other workers. The implications of this smaller value are discussed in the light of some experimental results.