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I've spent some time thinking about this before, and it provides a clue about the writers accent. For example: "An 'H'", and "a 'H'" are both equally valid fol
by kichimi 12d ago
I've spent some time thinking about this before, and it provides a clue about the writers accent. For example:
"An 'H'", and "a 'H'" are both equally valid following this rule (by my interpretation), depending on how you pronounce the letter 'H'.
- post-it 12d agoA/an herb, for example.
- mc32 12d ago/heitsh/ vs /eitsh/. I think it's mostly Irish with the former.
- kelnos 12d agoAnd Australian, I believe.
- ajxs 12d agoI'm Australian, and I say 'A Hotel', and 'A Herb'. Until very recently, I'd never heard anyone ever say it differently.
- nephihaha 12d ago"I think it's mostly Irish with the former." Actually, it's a shibboleth. It used to be said in Ireland that Roman Catholic called it "haitch" and Protestants called it "aitch". "Haitch" is to be found furth of Ireland though.
- nephihaha 12d agoMost English accents don't drop the "h" in herb, although American influence will change that. But you can hear "an" used in phrases like "an hotel" or "an historic building", where the "h" is usually pronounced.
- isityettime 12d agoMost Americans don't pronounce the "h" in "herb" or "herbal" afaict. We do usually pronounce it in people's names though, like "Herb".
- nemonemo 12d agoMaybe this could be used to track how some spoken language changes over time in a region or across regions.