I don’t think there’s any remote or prosodic effect here. It’s strictly a matter of whether you pronounce the initial <h> or not. I normally say “a historic…” with the /h/, but I find myself occasionally eliding the /h/ and using “an.” The pronunciation with both the /n/ and the /h/ arises, I think, from a misunderstanding of the rule. It’s more common in BrE to elide the /h/ than in American English, and I suspect that’s where the misunderstanding applies. I have heard lots of American newsreaders use “an” with the /h/, and I think they’ve been taught that prescriptively.
Herb
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carol Morrison
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 12:50 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Grammar Question
For some reason "an historic event" sounds better than "a historic event," but I agree with John that "a historic hurricane" sounds less awkward than "an historic hurricane." Perhaps, as Geoff said, when one says: "anistoric event," "an historic" is pronounced as one word because the word event follows it, and "event" begins with a vowel. It is easier to say "A historic hurricane" because both "h's" are pronounced, and "an historic hurricane" sounds too wordy or awkward. (I know none of that probably made any sense).
Carol
--- On Sat, 8/27/11, John Dews-Alexander <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
From: John Dews-Alexander <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: Grammar Question
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, August 27, 2011, 12:33 PM
I certainly agree with you when it comes to usage and the folly of pressing an "error" issue here, but I don't necessarily think "an historic hurricane" sounds more grammatical than "a historic hurricane." I'm going purely off of my instinct as a native speaker of English; perhaps there is a regional/dialectal aspect concerning the degree to which one pronounces the "h."
"An historic hurricane" doesn't sound ungrammatical to me, just odd. I see what you're saying about the eliding that can take place, but it rings in my ear as something done by people "not from around here."
I'll keep my ears open and listen for local usage. Maybe I'm off base on this.
John
On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 10:37 PM, Geoffrey Layton <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
Let's not dismiss this one so easily.
In spite of what Grammar Girl says, does anyone honestly find that saying "a historic hurricane" out loud actually sound better than "an historic hurricane"? Only if the emphasis is on the indefinite article does "a historic" sound ok (it still sounds wrong to me even though I know it's right). However, if (as I would argue every native speaker does automatically), the sound of the article is naturally elided with the "h," tonally forming one word "anistoric," then "an historic hurricane" is the proper choice - both orally and in writing. And why would the emphasis be placed on an indefinite article anyway? If we were talking about "the historic hurricane," then it makes some sense to emphasize "the," separating tonally the two words.
The next reason to savor this problem a bit more is that it is not a grammar problem at all, but one of usage. So the question becomes (even if we agree that "a historic" is "right") which "errors" of usage are worth fighting over? My feeling is that this judgment should be based on meaning - does the "error" affect the meaning? So this one ("an historic") fails to meet just about any criteria that calls for correction. In fact, correcting this "error" may even reach the level of "hyper-correctness" where being "right" sounds wrong to everybody else except us schoolmarms (and, as mentioned earlier, it even sounds wrong to this schoolmarm), so that not only does "an historic" not affect the meaning negatively, it actually enhances the meaning if it enhances the ability of all of but a select audience to focus on what is being said rather than how it is being said.
Geoff Layton
________________________________
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:21:38 -0700
From: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Grammar Question
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Thank you, Brad, M.T., and John for a quick response! I did not know the answer because I've heard both "a" and "an" used in front of "historic". I guess you would only use "an" if you pronounce "historic" with a silent "h".
Carol
--- On Fri, 8/26/11, Brad Layton <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
From: Brad Layton <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: Grammar Question
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, August 26, 2011, 8:07 PM
Carol, either is "correct." It simply depends on the idiolect of the individual speaking ... specifically, whether that person pronounces the "h" or does not pronounce the "h". I am unaware of any prescriptive case for the superiority of either that would hold water ... or 100 mph winds, for that matter ;) .
-----Original Message-----
From: Carol Morrison <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>>
To: ATEG <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>>
Sent: Fri, Aug 26, 2011 6:41 pm
Subject: Grammar Question
A friend just asked me which is correct: "a historic hurricane" or "an historic hurricane"? Can someone help me out here?
Thanks!
Carol
--- On Fri, 8/26/11, Kathleen Bethell <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
From: Kathleen Bethell <[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>>
Subject: Re: Membership in ATEG
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, August 26, 2011, 12:16 PM
Thank you, Geoff – Amy already got in touch. ATEG folks are wonderful!
Kathi
P.S. I don’t know why the cc didn’t work; the address is correct.
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]&>] On Behalf Of Geoffrey Layton
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 10:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Membership in ATEG
Kathi - I passed on your question to our president, Amy Benjamin - but I tried to copy you on the message and got an undeliverable message for [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>.
Geoff Layton
________________________________
Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:19:07 -0400
From: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Membership in ATEG
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
I never received acknowledgement when I joined, so I am not sure if I am even on the rolls, yet. Is there some way I can check to find out my membership status?
Kathi
Kathleen Bethell
Assistant Professor
Liberal Arts, English
Ivy Tech Community College
200 Daniels Way
Bloomington, IN 47404
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]&>] On Behalf Of Amy Benjamin
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2011 10:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<http:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Membership in ATEG
As you know, our hot new ATEG Journals are stacked and stampled in our mailroom (aka my basement) ready to go out to ATEG members. As we now do have a better system of keeping track of, acknowledging, and servicing ATEG members, please consider joining officially.
See www.ateg.org<http://www.ateg.org/> for details, which are, we are happy to report, now accurate!
Membership in ATEG allows you to receive the Journal, published twice yearly, and to keep ATEG as a (nagging) voice to our parent organization, NCTE. We maintain this listserv, our website, and are allowed to host a session at the NCTE annual conference. We also host an annual conference, gathering together all of the educators in the English-speaking, non-English-speaking, and non-speaking world, and non-world who are interested in the teaching of grammar. Thankfully, all of these people can fit easily into one room.
So keep those cards and letters coming!
Amy Benjamin
ATEG co-president
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