|
Post by Verbivore on Jul 9, 2008 8:57:14 GMT
You may be right, Twod; perhaps it was only the second syllable. When I try other h-words, it does seem to be those with the emphasis on the second syllable that I automatically give the an treatment to.
|
|
|
Post by Dave M on Jul 9, 2008 9:14:12 GMT
We seem to be mixing up two different things, here: Twod and Vv are talking about when/whether a word beginnning with the sound of an aitch takes "an", and Geoff is claiming that it's difficult in those cases actually to pronounce the "a h~" combination.
Surely, they HAVE to be quite separate issues: even those who say "an hhoe-TELL" can manage to say "a hoe".
|
|
|
Post by Geoff on Jul 9, 2008 9:38:52 GMT
Dave,
Don't ask me to explain, but I think (after talking to myself here for a few minutes) I would say a hoe and a hotel; but I wouldn't say a historical.
|
|
|
Post by SusanB on Jul 9, 2008 10:19:35 GMT
Geoff - That's really interesting. I never say 'an' for any of the 'h' words (and they all grate for me), but looking at your comment I realise that I would probably react less strongly to someone saying 'an historical' than to 'an hotel'. I aspirate more fully on hotel than historical (as also mentioned above by Verbivore). Perhaps I transfer that expectation to other people. I never encountered the rule about the second syllable before (possibly explaining why 'an' sounds so wrong to me, as it wasn't used by my family or peers either).
|
|