Re: FAQ 3.3

["dreamwvr@dreamwvr.com" <dreamwvr@dreamwvr.com>]

On Fri, May 02, 2003 at 03:19:53PM +1000, Rod.. Whitworth wrote:
> On Thu, 1 May 2003 21:09:50 -0700, Ben Goren wrote:
> The use of 'an' as the indefinite article preceeding a word beginning
> with an aitch is normal in two cases. One is the silent aitch you
> quoted (hours) and the other is for words of French origin e.g.
> hospital, historical, hotel and never horse, hand or hat.
> 
> Common usage is trending to ignore the latter case as it involves
> either knowledge of the French connection or a mental process akin to
> sight word pronunciation, i.e. learnt association.
> 
> You may be of the opinion that all the French origin words start with
> soft aitches and the others hard. We could not discern any difference
> in analysis of the pronunciation of any of the words spoken singly by a
> wide range of speakers. Francophones do not normally aspirate initial
> aitches.
I 4 1 appreciate the English lesson. As it can get confusing when
to use a or an. At least for me. Now I know when an hour is 22 minutes;-)

Best Regards,
dreamwvr@dreamwvr.com

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