pigrp@ihuxq.UUCP (Peter Fales) (01/31/84)
Any ideas why some words beginning with the letter h (the one I have seen frequently is "historic") are written with the article "an" rather than "a," as in "an historic event." This doesn't sound right to me, considering the way most people pronounce "historic." Is there any other pronunciation? -- Peter Fales ihuxq!iwlc7!psfales IW-1Z243 (312) 979-7784
tll@druxu.UUCP (LaidigTL) (01/31/84)
The use of "an" before words that begin with an "h" sound is, I believe,
correct in British usage (any Brits out there may refute this statement
if appropriate). In US American usage, it is not correct. Quoting from
my dictionary here in the office ("The Winston Dictionary", copyright
1946 -- yeah, it's an off-brand, and old... so what?), "an" is "used
before an initial vowel sound, including silent *h*, not before the
sound of *h* or *y*; as, *an* egg, *an* hour, *a* hotel, *a* ewe"
[asterisks used to denote italics]. I believe I saw the same statement
in Strunk and White's "Elements of Style," but my copy of it is at home,
so you better check to make sure.
I think the reason US Americans use phrases like "an historic" is that
it sounds British, and therefore cultured.
What's the story in Canada?
Tom Laidig
AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Denver
...!ihnp4!druxu!tllemma@uw-june (Joe Pfeiffer) (02/02/84)
It comes from Englishmen -- "an 'istoric event". -Joe P.
crane@fortune.UUCP (John Crane) (02/07/84)
The decision to use "a" or "an" has largely to do the initial sound of the noun which follows. It's hard to explain but generally if the noun starts with a vowel or a VOWEL-LIKE sound, we use "an". If it begins with a consonant or CONSONANT-LIKE sound, we use "a". For example: an animal an eskimo an item an oversight an understatement a bobcat a ghost a rabbit Here are some exceptions: an historic occasion a habbit of a universal problem Try switching the articles and see how hard they are to pronounce. The h flows so easily into the i, they almost slur together. We almost say "anistoric". Maybe we're all lazy, but that's the way we commonly use it, so it becomes a rule of grammar. The u in universal has a y sound, which sounds like a consonant. So here we use plain old "a". I think we are dealing with the same thing when we talk about certain Eastern dialects who say things like "The problem with CubaR is...". THe "r" only gets added to the ends of words which end in vowels when the following word begins with another vowel. They prefer not to slur between vowels, so they add the intervening "r".
ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (02/07/84)
The use of "an" before "h" is somewhat justified and somewhat for historic reasons. When an initial "h" is not silent, it is sometimes pronounced so quietly that it is almost inaudible; this is one of those things that varies from one place to another. So with some speakers, "an hotel" sounds right-- it is almost "an 'otel". The historic side is that initial "h" tends to vary over time, silent ones becoming pronounced and vice versa. The particular instances where "an" is most often seen would be the words that formerly began with a silent or more nearly silent "h". I was taught (I don't have first hand experience) that the situation in French nowadays is that initial "h" is always silent, but that in certain words it is considered "aspirated" and a preceding "le" or "de" does not contract as it would before a vowel... thus, for instance, the place name Le Havre as opposed to the unaspirated l'hotel. I wouldn't be surprised if the aspiration is much like the "almost inaudible h" I refer to above. Mark Brader
plaskon@hplabsc.UUCP (Dawn Plaskon) (02/10/84)
As with other soft "h" words the "h" is barely pronounced, so an is the appropriate article. Thus an historic would be pronounced an i-stor-ik, an honest would be an o-nest. In thinking about it, I believe that I do pronounce the h in historic but with very little stress.