5 ms·

(100% OT of linked article: "a historic", not "an historic", unless you pronounce the word "istoric".) https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/a-historic-event

(100% OT of linked article: "a historic", not "an historic", unless you pronounce the word "istoric".) https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/a-historic-event-or-an-historic-event https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/usage/a-historic-event-or-...

fnord123 9y ago
>unless you pronounce the word "istoric" Which we do (in Britain and the rest of the English speaking world outside North America), so "an historic" it is. e.g. from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p055vr37 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p055vr37
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- msla 9y ago
  Just keep in mind the fact that English is a polycentric language means your customs are no more or less correct than any other.
- craigds 9y ago
  In NZ we definitely pronounce it "historic". But that doesn't stop the news anchors from saying "an historic". It sounds ridiculous
- robotmay 9y ago
  I'm British and I have never personally pronounced it "istoric", and to my knowledge I have never heard anyone pronounce it like that either. Is it a regional thing? I can only recall it being pronounced like that in US TV shows with comedy fake English accents. "An hour" on the other hand makes more sense, as that is truly a soft H.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
jwilk 9y ago
Shameless plug: I wrote a spellchecker that finds this kind of errors: https://github.com/jwilk/anorack https://github.com/jwilk/anorack
- disconnected 9y ago
  $ echo "Porting an historic Python2 module into Python3" > test_file $ ./anorack test_file $ out:1: an historic -> a historic /hIst'0rIk/ Interesting. What if... $ ...hacks phonetics.py to use "en-us" voice... $ ./anorack test_file $ out:1: an historic -> a historic /hIst'0rIk/ Hum... same result. What about: $ ...hacks phonetics.py to use "en-wm" voice... $ ./anorack test_file $ Ah, finally someone gets it right :) (just having a bit of fun, this is a cool work!) Edit: formatting...
  - billforsternz 9y ago
    Sorry for my ignorance, what is en-wm ?
    - jwilk 9y ago
      English as spoken in West Midlands No need to feel ignorant; it's a nonstandard, eSpeak-specific notation.
      - kennydude 9y ago
        Is there a list of these? Would be fun to know what the Geordie and Scouse ones are
        jwilk 9y ago
        $ espeak --voices | grep ' en-' 2 en-gb M english en (en-uk 2)(en 2) 5 en-sc M en-scottish other/en-sc (en 4) 5 en-uk-north M english-north other/en-n (en-uk 3)(en 5) 5 en-uk-rp M english_rp other/en-rp (en-uk 4)(en 5) 5 en-uk-wmids M english_wmids other/en-wm (en-uk 9)(en 9) 2 en-us M english-us en-us (en-r 5)(en 3) 5 en-wi M en-westindies other/en-wi (en-uk 4)(en 10)
nerdponx 9y ago
"An historic" is not only still acceptable in the USA, but it also (IMO) sounds better. The leading "H" is not a strong-sounding consonant, and is often dropped in both American and British English.
- stretchwithme 9y ago
  I will look that up in an history book and get back to you.
  - greenshackle2 9y ago
    They're pronounced differently: History: /ˈhist(ə)rē/ Historic: /hiˈstôrik/ The 'h' is stressed in 'history', not in 'historic'. Try pronouncing 'historic' with a stress on the first syllable, it sounds wrong. Since it's softer in historic it's more natural (to me anyway) to use 'an'. (Also, I'm french so I barely pronounce h's to begin with - so in my speech the stressed 'h' in history is kinda soft, and the unstressed h in historic is barely there.) (edited)
    - stretchwithme 9y ago
      I've never heard the Hs pronounced differently here in the US. Perhaps its too subtle for me.
dec0dedab0de 9y ago
Drives me nuts when people don't pronounce H
stretchwithme 9y ago
There's an history of ignoring how other words that start with the exact same sound are handled.

fnord123 9y ago

>unless you pronounce the word "istoric" Which we do (in Britain and the rest of the English speaking world outside North America), so "an historic" it is. e.g. from BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p055vr37 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p055vr37

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
msla 9y ago
Just keep in mind the fact that English is a polycentric language means your customs are no more or less correct than any other.
craigds 9y ago
In NZ we definitely pronounce it "historic". But that doesn't stop the news anchors from saying "an historic". It sounds ridiculous
robotmay 9y ago
I'm British and I have never personally pronounced it "istoric", and to my knowledge I have never heard anyone pronounce it like that either. Is it a regional thing? I can only recall it being pronounced like that in US TV shows with comedy fake English accents. "An hour" on the other hand makes more sense, as that is truly a soft H.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

jwilk 9y ago

Shameless plug: I wrote a spellchecker that finds this kind of errors: https://github.com/jwilk/anorack https://github.com/jwilk/anorack

disconnected 9y ago
$ echo "Porting an historic Python2 module into Python3" > test_file $ ./anorack test_file $ out:1: an historic -> a historic /hIst'0rIk/ Interesting. What if... $ ...hacks phonetics.py to use "en-us" voice... $ ./anorack test_file $ out:1: an historic -> a historic /hIst'0rIk/ Hum... same result. What about: $ ...hacks phonetics.py to use "en-wm" voice... $ ./anorack test_file $ Ah, finally someone gets it right :) (just having a bit of fun, this is a cool work!) Edit: formatting...
- billforsternz 9y ago
  Sorry for my ignorance, what is en-wm ?
  - jwilk 9y ago
    English as spoken in West Midlands No need to feel ignorant; it's a nonstandard, eSpeak-specific notation.
    - kennydude 9y ago
      Is there a list of these? Would be fun to know what the Geordie and Scouse ones are
      - jwilk 9y ago
        $ espeak --voices | grep ' en-' 2 en-gb M english en (en-uk 2)(en 2) 5 en-sc M en-scottish other/en-sc (en 4) 5 en-uk-north M english-north other/en-n (en-uk 3)(en 5) 5 en-uk-rp M english_rp other/en-rp (en-uk 4)(en 5) 5 en-uk-wmids M english_wmids other/en-wm (en-uk 9)(en 9) 2 en-us M english-us en-us (en-r 5)(en 3) 5 en-wi M en-westindies other/en-wi (en-uk 4)(en 10)

nerdponx 9y ago

"An historic" is not only still acceptable in the USA, but it also (IMO) sounds better. The leading "H" is not a strong-sounding consonant, and is often dropped in both American and British English.

stretchwithme 9y ago
I will look that up in an history book and get back to you.
- greenshackle2 9y ago
  They're pronounced differently: History: /ˈhist(ə)rē/ Historic: /hiˈstôrik/ The 'h' is stressed in 'history', not in 'historic'. Try pronouncing 'historic' with a stress on the first syllable, it sounds wrong. Since it's softer in historic it's more natural (to me anyway) to use 'an'. (Also, I'm french so I barely pronounce h's to begin with - so in my speech the stressed 'h' in history is kinda soft, and the unstressed h in historic is barely there.) (edited)
  - stretchwithme 9y ago
    I've never heard the Hs pronounced differently here in the US. Perhaps its too subtle for me.

dec0dedab0de 9y ago

Drives me nuts when people don't pronounce H

stretchwithme 9y ago

There's an history of ignoring how other words that start with the exact same sound are handled.