"Often" Pronunciation

H in History is not a vowel sound to me, or it wouldn't sound awkward, just like An hot day. You wouldn't say I checked my tire and heard an Hiss.

I agree if I were to say pronounce H, AN H is correct, since that is an aitch.

 

^^^ it is a hard H, not a soft H.

This is also the difference between saying only the letter (an ess, which forces you to start with a vowel sound) versus how you pronounce a word that starts with that letter (a sexy bastard).

 

It's me pet fish Eric, e's an alibut!

 

That's Cockney, guvnah!

 

Ya know why I love TW? Because of its long attention span and ability to stay on...

What's this thread about again?

 

An historic event
A history essay

FTFY

 

You're not fixing anything.

Why would you use different articles for variants of the same word that begin with the same sound?

What professional editorial standard are you using?

 

"An historic" has been correct for the 50 years that I've been reading.

The editorial rule that you posted is correct, but the pronunciation of "historical" is not.
It's a carryover from the limited Latin influences in the Germanic languages.

 

Which brings me back to why is it still considered correct? We pronounce the H now.

I would never say an historic, and anyone that does has to have been told that AN is correct, but based on an obsolete pronunciation?

Still makes no sense.

 

Depends how drunk i am?

 

A lot of things in English don't make sense, and many "common" pronunciations are incorrect, example, "Birmingham"... the "h" is silent in the "ham" suffix on a name.
You will lead the group home tomorrow, but you weight your wheels with lead.

English is not always intuitive, and phonics does not always work.
Language is one of the few sciences where rules were made to be broken. Maybe not so much that, but in language, particularly the Germanic based, there are exceptions to nearly every rule.

 

Why continue to teach a clumsy exception? That's what doesn't make sense to me. Zero reason to continue this totally forced rule.

Time for every newscaster and english teacher to say A historic and be done with it.

 

Thanks, but I already knew I am correct, and not because of my opinion, but because of current professional publishing standards, not outdated pet peeves that teachers or professors may have handed down from their various prescriptivist or descriptivist teacher's or professor's pet peeves.

Yes, the same Latinate teachings that say you can't split an infinitive. But Latin grammar doesn't apply to modern American English. It applies to Latin.

Is there anyone here, other than the odd Cockney, who does not use a hard H when pronouncing "historical"?

 

I find myself saying it as 'off-in'

 

*standards

 

Why are you saying it like that?

FAIL! You missed *infinitive, *American, *professional

 

I'm amazed by how many people around here are so wrong...it's "off-in"

 

your so rite uf corse!

 

anyone else on this?