Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!ntt 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