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Davkett Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Hallucination

0 Quoted from an earlier post where my follow-up question may have gotten lost: 02br
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00CalifJim wrote: 02br
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00Typically "an" before a word beginning with "h" only happens when the "h" is silent ("hour", "honor") or when the first syllable of the "h"-word is unstressed. ("historical", "hysterical"). The first syllable of "history" is stressed, so "an" would not be used. 02br
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00"a history of England" 02br
00"an historical novel which takes place in Spain" 02br
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01i00_____________________________02i02br
00My question is: 02br
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00James Ellroy, in 01u00The Big Nowhere02u00, writes 'Walking in, he thought he was entering a hallucination.' 02br
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00Is that 'a' an error? 0-
  

Top answer

0 01i 00Webster's Dictionary of English Usage02i 00 has: 02br 01blockquote 00Before 11i 10h12i 10 in an unstressed or weakly stressed syllable, 11i 10a12i 10 and 11i 10an12i 10 are both used in writing (11i 10an12i 10 historic, 11i 10a12i 10 historic) but 11i 10an12i 10 is more usual in speech, whether the 11i 10h12i 10 is pronounced or not. This variation is the result of historical development; in unstressed and weakly stressed syllable, 11i 10h12i 10 was formerly not pronounced in many word where it is pronounced at the present time. A few words, such as 11i 10historic12i 10 and (especially in England) 11i 10hotel12i 10, are in transition, and may be found with either 11i 10a12i 10 or 11i 10an12i 10.

— Rvw

  • 0 01i 00Webster's Dictionary of English Usage02i 00 has: 02br 01blockquote 00Before 11i 10h12i 10 in an unstressed or weakly stressed syllable, 11i 10a12i 10 and 11i 10an12i 10 are both used in writing (11i 10an12i 10 historic, 11i 10a12i 10 historic) but 11i 10an12i 10 is more usual in speech, whether the 11i 10h12i 10 is pronounced or not.
  • This variation is the result of historical development; in unstressed and weakly stressed syllable, 11i 10h12i 10 was formerly not pronounced in many word where it is pronounced at the present time.
  • A few words, such as 11i 10historic12i 10 and (especially in England) 11i 10hotel12i 10, are in transition, and may be found with either 11i 10a12i 10 or 11i 10an12i 10.
  • 12blockquote 10 0-
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4 Answers
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0 01i00Webster's Dictionary of English Usage02i00 has: 02br
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00Before 11i10h12i10 in an unstressed or weakly stressed syllable, 11i10a12i10 and 11i10an12i10 are both used in writing (11i10an12i10 historic, 11i10a12i10 his
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0 That clears it up for me, rvw. Thanks. 0-
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0 In BrE, 'an' before an unstressed, pronounced H is relatively rarely heard. 02br
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00So 'a hallucination', 'a hotel', 'a historical' would be the norm. 02br
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00(Just my 2p.) 02br
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00MrP 0-
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0 Interpreted strictly against the rule I quoted, yes, it is quite clearly an error. 02br
00Nevertheless, hardly anyone interprets this particular rule so strictly. The clause stating "or when the first syllable ..." is usually ignored. You can amend the rule to omit that clause if you want. Then you have something closer to the actual modern practice of many writers. I included
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