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'A' and 'an' function as the indefinite forms of the grammatical article in the English language and can also represent the number one. ''An'' is the older form (related to ''one'', cognate to German ''ein'' etc), now used before words starting with a vowel sound (or a syllabic consonant), regardless of whether the word begins with a vowel letter. Examples: ''a'' light-water reactor; ''an'' LWR; ''a'' sanitary sewer overflow; ''an'' SSO; ''a'' HEPA filter (because HEPA is pronounced as a word rather than as letters); ''a'' hypothesis; ''an'' hour; ''a'' unicorn.

Contents

Juncture loss

Discrimination between ''a'' and ''an''

Representing the number one

See also

References

Juncture loss

In a process called juncture loss, the N has wandered back and forth between words beginning with vowels over the history of the language, where sometimes it would be ''a nuncle'' and is now ''an uncle''. The Oxford English Dictionary gives such examples as ''smot hym on the hede with a nege tool'' from 1448 for ''smote him on the head with an edge tool'' and ''a nox'' for ''an ox'' and ''a napple'' for ''an apple''. Sometimes the change has been permanent. For example, ''a newt'' was once ''an ewt'' (earlier ''euft'' and ''eft''), ''a nickname'' was once ''an eke-name'', where ''eke'' means "extra" (as in ''eke out'' meaning "add to"), and in the other direction, "a napron" became "an apron" and "a naddre" became "an adder." "Napron" itself meant "little tablecloth" and is related to the words "napkin" (Am. Eng.) and "nappy" (Br. Eng.). An oft-cited but inaccurate example is ''an orange'': despite what is often claimed, English never used ''a norange''. Although the initial ''n'' was in fact lost through juncture loss, this happened before the word was borrowed in English (see orange (word)).

Discrimination between ''a'' and ''an''

The form "an" is always prescribed before words beginning with a silent ''h'', such as "honorable", "heir", "hour", and, in American English, "herb". Some British dialects (for example, Cockney) silence all initial ''h's (h-dropping) and so employ "an" all the time: e.g., "an 'elmet". Many British usage books, therefore, discount a usage which some Americans (amongst others) employ as being a derivative of the Cockney. The reason is that the indefinite article ''a'' is pronounced either of two ways: as a schwa or as the letter itself is pronounced, "long a" (actually a diphthong, ). Some words beginning with the letter ''h'' have the primary stress on the second or later syllable. Pronouncing ''a'' as a schwa can diminish the sound of the schwa and melt into the vowel. Pronouncing it as a "long a" does not do this, but as the pronunciation cannot be prescribed, the word is spelled the same for either. Hence ''an'' may be seen in such phrases as "an historic", "an heroic", and "an hôtel of excellence" was the by-line in an advertisement in a New York City newspaper .
''Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'' is more descriptive than prescriptive, but it advises, "You choose the article that suits your own pronunciation." Theodore Bernstein gives the straight vowel-sound vs. consonant-sound explanation but allows that one should indeed say "an hotel" if they think ''hotel'' is pronounced ''otel.'' [1]
Such was also the case for some other words which take the place of the article. "My" and "thy" became "mine" and "thine", as in "mine uncle". This usage is now obsolete.
The appearance of ''an'' or ''a'' in front of words beginning with ''h'' is not limited to stress. Sometimes there are historical roots as well. Words that may have had a route into English via French (where all "h"s are unpronounced) may have ''an'' to avoid an unusual pronunciation. Words that derived from German however would use ''a'' as the ''h's would be pronounced. There is even some suggestion that fashion may have had some influence. When England was ruled by a French aristocracy, the tradition may have been to exclusively use ''an'', while when Britain was governed by a German-based monarchy the tide may have changed to ''a''.
Further, some words starting with "u" (like "ukulele" or "user") have a preceding "a" because they are pronounced as if beginning with an initial "y" consonant.

Representing the number one

In addition to serving as an article, ''a'' and ''an'' are also used as synonyms for the number one, as in "make a wish", "a hundred". ''An'' was originally an unstressed form of the number ''án'' 'one'.
''A'' and ''an'' are also used to express a proportional relationship, such as "a dollar a day" or "$150 an ounce" or "A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play", although historically this use of "a" and "an" does not come from the same word as the articles.
The mathematically-minded might heed H. S. Wall's reminder that the statement ''"I have a son"'' does not necessarily imply that ''"I have exactly one son"'' or that ''"I have only sons"''. In other words, "The ''little'' words count." — H. S. Wall, ''Creative Mathematics''.

See also

★ The

References