A Headache of a Question and an Honest Inquiry
I recently came across a phrase I knew needed fixing in a current editing project. "An historical overview..." doesn't sound right to me, and raised a question I've occasionally pondered before. Should the article a or an be used before a word beginning with H?
A and an are indefinite articles; when you want to talk about a noun, such as "an apple" without talking about a specific noun - "the apple" - or more than one noun, you introduce it using one of these. A is used for words beginning with consonants, and an for words beginning with vowels. This is a straightforward rule, and we use these articles frequently without a second thought.
However, when the noun in question begins with the letter H, our assumptions are thrown out the window. H is a consonant, but some words with an initial H will not accept a. A quick search turned up a few articles indicating that the appropriate usage is determined by the pronunciation of the noun in question.
In many words, the initial H is silent, so the word effectively begins with a vowel. In these cases, an is the acceptable pronoun. Where the H is pronounced, a is used. Thus we might read A History of An Herbal Tea.
Of course, pronunciation does not establish a uniform rule; H-dropping is subject to regional variation. Even Merriam-Webster defers to the author: "You choose the article that suits your own pronunciation." We Americans would go to the cafe and order "an 'erbal tea," while a British person might ask for "an herbal tea," with the H enunciated If the rule is determined thus, we're bound to come across a few articles that brush us the wrong way whenever we read something written, translated, or edited by a Continental.
World Wide Words also suggest that many people follow an "extended rule:" when the stress is on the second syllable of an H word and not the first, an is used. We might check in to an hotel in an historical area. However, the article states later that younger people tend to prefer a to an in all cases, and I tend to agree. I changed "an historical" to "a historical" in my client's manuscript, because even such acceptable use of an really rankles me.
It seems difficult to draw a conclusion here. I think it would be best as an editor to apply the rule according to the speech of the author's intended audience. Next time this issue arises, it'll be a matter for the style sheet, though I'll probably encourage the author to follow my recommendation and use a in all questionable cases.
I raised another question for myself in this writing. When a word from our lexicon other than a noun is used as the subject of a sentence, should it be in quotations, italicized, or left alone? For example, should one use "a" before H or an before H? The Wikipedia article "A and an," perhaps because it is authored by multiple people, does not use either style consistently. Unfortunately though, this is a matter for another entry and another night.
A and an are indefinite articles; when you want to talk about a noun, such as "an apple" without talking about a specific noun - "the apple" - or more than one noun, you introduce it using one of these. A is used for words beginning with consonants, and an for words beginning with vowels. This is a straightforward rule, and we use these articles frequently without a second thought.
However, when the noun in question begins with the letter H, our assumptions are thrown out the window. H is a consonant, but some words with an initial H will not accept a. A quick search turned up a few articles indicating that the appropriate usage is determined by the pronunciation of the noun in question.
In many words, the initial H is silent, so the word effectively begins with a vowel. In these cases, an is the acceptable pronoun. Where the H is pronounced, a is used. Thus we might read A History of An Herbal Tea.
Of course, pronunciation does not establish a uniform rule; H-dropping is subject to regional variation. Even Merriam-Webster defers to the author: "You choose the article that suits your own pronunciation." We Americans would go to the cafe and order "an 'erbal tea," while a British person might ask for "an herbal tea," with the H enunciated If the rule is determined thus, we're bound to come across a few articles that brush us the wrong way whenever we read something written, translated, or edited by a Continental.
World Wide Words also suggest that many people follow an "extended rule:" when the stress is on the second syllable of an H word and not the first, an is used. We might check in to an hotel in an historical area. However, the article states later that younger people tend to prefer a to an in all cases, and I tend to agree. I changed "an historical" to "a historical" in my client's manuscript, because even such acceptable use of an really rankles me.
It seems difficult to draw a conclusion here. I think it would be best as an editor to apply the rule according to the speech of the author's intended audience. Next time this issue arises, it'll be a matter for the style sheet, though I'll probably encourage the author to follow my recommendation and use a in all questionable cases.
I raised another question for myself in this writing. When a word from our lexicon other than a noun is used as the subject of a sentence, should it be in quotations, italicized, or left alone? For example, should one use "a" before H or an before H? The Wikipedia article "A and an," perhaps because it is authored by multiple people, does not use either style consistently. Unfortunately though, this is a matter for another entry and another night.
posted by Kevin at
8:14 PM
2 Comments:
Good thoughts, Kevin. "H" can be a confusing letter to deal with, in both pronunciation and grammar. I have learned from my phonetics course that the sound /h/ (the slash marks indicating I am referring to the sound, or phoneme, not the letter itself)is classified as a voiceless, glottal frictive. All that this means is that (1) the vocal folds are not in vibration when producing the sound and (2) the sound is generated as the breath is forced through the narrow space (3) between vocal folds (glottis).
It happens, though, that the sound can be generated not as it passes the glottis, but rather in the mouth, depending on vowels that may precede or follow the /h/. Say the words "hoop" and "heap" and one can feel/hear the sound come from the placement of the tongue and hard palate.
In any event, /h/ is a difficult consonant because it has quite a vowel quality to it (also /r/ and /l/). Kevin is right when he says the "a v. an" decision should be based on the pronunciation of the /h/ consonant. If there is a sound there, the "n" is not necessary; if the /h/ is dropped (as in "honest"), then please include the "n".
I like what you are thinking when you say the audience should be considered. Other things to consider could be the regional dialect of the speaker or narrator, if there is one.
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