For want of an indefinite historical article [S. Worthen

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Dear People raised in the UK or Canada, and other people who like filling out polls:
[Poll #1679508]

Languages are challenging, not least because they keep changing. "an historian" and "an historical figure" were some of the British grammatical quirks I got down early.

Only now, the internet tells me, times, they are a changin'. It's okay to use "a" instead of "an" for histor* words in British Englishes. I would like some more evidence on the subject one way or the other.

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There are 62 comments over 2 pages. (Reply.)

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I think I'd say AN before a word beginning with an unaccented but pronounced H. Thus an hotel, an historian, an hypothesis; but A sounds ok too and I doubt I'm consistent. At some point I was told that only the A is correct.

What did you learn to say at home?

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I learned "a historian" and "a historical". I think of "an", at least in terms of written work, as being a Britishism I had to learn. (Only now I'm working on the degree to which I should unlearn it, on the basis of this poll and discussion.)

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I would certainly write "a historian", but if I were speaking quickly I might go with "an" just because that would allow me to elide the h: I find "a histor-" slightly difficult to say. Which I've always assumed to be the original motive behind that curious English habit of silencing the h, but really truly we hardly do it any more. The last person I heard speak of "an 'otel" (in an upper-class accent) was John Betjeman, and that was long ago. [Oh - unless it was Robert Robinson. He might still do it.]

And I get to laugh at Karen on an almost-weekly basis, because she says "'erb" in that weird American way, when it quite clearly has a valid h on the front.

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Just was thinking, is this a question for that fancy new Google lexeme too?

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Gosh. Look at the 1960s.

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The American chart has the overtaking in the 1940s. I can't help but wonder if there's not a sort of social cause... like, perhaps, the increase in higher education (democratization of the academy)--although that starts in the 1940s and you'd think that it'd lag that, then. The Depression? Jazz-age literary trends making people used to things? Migration leveling dialect?

Pity I have to go back to ancient astronomy as opposed to working on this. ;)

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... Although before I do, that it's in the 1960s is rather telling, i'n't it?

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Oops. I misread that as "US" rather than "UK". I have now destroyed your poll results. *sobs*

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No, no, read *even more carefully* the three categories of people who should fill out the poll.

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Well, I don't usually like filling out polls...unless they're language-related polls. Does that still count?

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It'll do. :)

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I've assumed it stems from the French origin of "history" (well, French origin in English)? I've always wondered why it's carried over when the "h" is obviously pronounced in English now, regardless of where you're from (except for small regional pronunciation differences). "An History" sounds so awkward to me, in contrast with the little "r" sound between vowels that UK speakers throw in, which sounds quite pleasant.

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I was alwasy taught that "an" should be used as the "h" isn't strong enough by itself.
But on reading your poll, my first thought was that I'd never use a/an historian. Electrians, Plumbers, even piano tuners, but never historians.

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I wanted to write this before I read too many of the other comments, as they might have distorted my view.

"A historian" is a direct reference to a particular person, although not defined (and could be any). "An historical figure" could be anyone. For me, as a natural (pedantic maybe, but untutored) English speaker, the difference, I think, is crucial. But I am struggling to define it. I'll give this some more thought when I'm less tired.

Actually, I would say either of both, but in different contexts. Why?

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I have to say it is entirely contextual. I'm not sure I'd ever use it in writing, but depending on the flow of the sentence, I might use 'a' or 'an'

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There are 62 comments over 2 pages. (Reply.)

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S. Worthen | Weblog

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