"a" or "an"?

AmE at least permits 'an' when followed by an unstressed though pronounced 'h' syllable.

A/An historical document
A/An Hawaiian guitar

Somewhere previously I had a discussion with Mr Pedantic on this topic, and it may be viewed more strictly in BrE.

Thank you very much for your help. Excuse my ignorance please, but I do'nt know what "AmE" or "BrE" means.

'American English' and 'British English'. (Sorry. Sometimes we forget we have newcomers.)

Thank you again for your answers. One more question: What would be an example of a "stressed" H (in which case "an" would not be appropriate)?

I was not precise the first time-- I mean a stressed/unstressed initial syllable beginning with /h/:

The /hi/ of 'historical' is unstressed, permitting 'an historical'.
The /'hi/ of 'history' is stressed, requiring 'a history'.

I truly appreciate your help. Thank you!

The word 'an' is used when the word proceeding begins with a vowel, otherwise 'a' is used.

A vowel sound.

Dear,

It was the first time I've heard about "an historical". I know that we must use a before words that begin with vowel sound. But in /hi 'stor i kal/, hi is not a vowel sound.

So, could you please explain this case in more detail?


P/S: I'm a newcomer, and I hope that I will have a better English, so, in my posts, when I make grammatical

It was the first time I've heard about "an historical". I know that we must use a before words that begin with vowel sound. But in /hi 'stor i kal/, hi is not a vowel sound.


JT: The sound is dropped in some dialects and even in some individuals speech when using this word, Averell. So while is not a vowel sound, is so we get,

an istorical meeting.