Why is 'an' used with 'an honour'?

Question

Why is 'an' used with 'an honour'? Isn't 'an' limited to the vowels?

related: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/629/a-historic-or-an-historic — Chris, Dec 08 '10 at 01:27

score 18 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 08 '10 at 01:20

18

Because the 'h' is silent in honour (or, in America, honor).

Sometimes 'an' is used even if the 'h' is aspirated, as in "This was an historic occasion."

answered Dec 08 '10 at 01:20

Robusto

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But that's because it is pronounced "an 'istoric occasion at an 'otel", but "the historic hotel" has fully aspirated h's; English is weird! You also, of course, get "an umbrella" but "a ukelele". – Jonathan Leffler Dec 08 '10 at 07:16
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@Jonathan: I frequently hear people say "an historic occasion" with no elision of the "h". – Robusto Dec 08 '10 at 11:28
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I can't help it if they weren't brought up to speak proper, can I? :D – Jonathan Leffler Dec 08 '10 at 14:28
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@JonathanLeffler: "An umbrella" vs. "a ukelele" isn't weird. Ukelele starts with a consonant sound (a y glide). – LarsH Aug 28 '13 at 15:36
@JonathanLeffler do you have any idea in what areas "an 'istoric" is the common pronunciation? Where I live (Austin, TX) I'm pretty sure most people would say "a historic". – Andy Nov 26 '16 at 16:32
and @JonathanLeffler that's speak properly ;) – Andy Nov 26 '16 at 16:33
@Andy: I'd suggest some parts of southern England would use "an 'istoric" with no or almost no aspiration on the h. For example, I'm fairly sure that's what I'd say. And the 'proper' vs 'properly' is intended to be a joke in some English dialect — Cockney or thereabouts. It's more than a tad difficult to convey that in a comment on SO, though.. I suppose I could have shown some glottlestops (or is that "glo'lestops"?) etc. – Jonathan Leffler Nov 26 '16 at 17:50
@JonathanLeffler gotcha, I wasn't sure :) – Andy Nov 27 '16 at 17:56

score 11 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 29 '13 at 04:21

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As I understand it, an 'An' should be used before words that sound like they start with a vowel.

This can lead to ambiguity like 'SQL database'. This could either be written as 'an SQL database' or 'a SQL database' depending upon whether you pronounce SQL as 'S-Q-L' or 'sequel'.

edited Aug 29 '13 at 04:21

Jonathan Leffler

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answered Dec 08 '10 at 03:01

dave

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Good point, I never think of it as Sequel and so always use AN – mgb Mar 28 '11 at 05:16
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A vowel is, first and foremost, a sound. The "a"/"an" rule is a rule based on sound. – nohat Aug 29 '13 at 23:24
Thank you very much. This answer is very helpful as well. – JFW Aug 30 '13 at 16:18

Why is 'an' used with 'an honour'?

2 Answers2