Some Misused Words.
CORRESPONDENT, “Interested,” gives a very rational rule, which Nesfield endorses, for the use of “ a ” or “ an ” with an aspirate, and has asked for a*i opinion on the subject. After all, this is still just a matter of opinion. “ Touchstone ” greatly prefers the use of “a ” before words beginning with “h” unless the “h” is silent, as in “ an hour.” The use of “an ” threatens to make the aspirated “ h ” silent, and, in fact, many persons were taught years ago to say “an ’ospital,” and common use also made a hero into “an ’ero.” In the old days the word “ humble ” was pronounced “ ’umble,” but nowadays we say “ a humble man.” “ John o’ London ” is on the side of those who say “ a heroic deed,” “ a hysterical woman,” “ a hypothesis ” and “ a hereafter.” He points out that in the Authorised Version of the Bible there are numerous inconsistencies, which are also repeated in the Prayer Book. The “ an ” is sure to be dropped in time. TOUCHSTONE.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19310811.2.98
Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 189, 11 August 1931, Page 8
Word Count
169Some Misused Words. Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 189, 11 August 1931, Page 8
Using This Item
Star Media Company Ltd is the copyright owner for the Star (Christchurch). You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Star Media. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in