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From: ntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Question about "an"
Message-ID: <677@dciem.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 7-Feb-84 12:46:48 EST
Article-I.D.: dciem.677
Posted: Tue Feb  7 12:46:48 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 16:25:25 EST
References: <567@ihuxq.UUCP>
Organization: NTT Systems Inc., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 15

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