Why do so many people use the article "an" before the adjective "historic"?

Question

I have never seen someone use "an house" or "an horse". Yet I always see people use "an historic victory" or something to that effect. Both cases have a hard consonant h sound so why the misuse of "an" with historic? What up with that?

Hey nothing wrong with public schools, but oddly enough, I think some people use it this way to sound bookish.

I keep trying to picture the word with a silent h and I get Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent from Mary Poppins LOL. I suppose if you pronounce the word that way it's called for.

Answer 1

To try to put it in context, here are the BASIC reasons why "an" may appear before various words beginning with /h/. Note esp. #3, which is often missed by folks attempting to explain "an historic" (vs. "a history")

1) in some cases, it is because the initial /h/ IS not pronounced
*generally in "hours" hono(u)r"
*American English - "herb"
*some dialects "humble", "hotel"

(Note that the "rule" is NOT that "an" is used before vowels, but before vowel-SOUNDS. That's why before a word like "ukelele", which begins with a vowel, but with the consonant-SOUND "y-", one says "a" NOT "an".)

2) history of the word - that is, the /h/ USED to be silent:
there are a number of words whose initial /h/ was originally not pronounced, esp. those derived from (Old) French, which did not pronounce it (sometimes did not even spell it)
Some of these (examples listed in #1) STILL do not pronounce the /h/ in many or all English dialects. Others that have added a pronounced /h/ may still be treated as if they did not have it -- 'historic(al)' is perhaps the best example of this

BUT this is not enough -- those who say "an historic(al) event" (pronouncing the /h/) ALSO usually say "a history"!
So, there's one other very important factor, which is:

3) The syllable starting with /h/ LACKS an ACCENT
--Specifically, if the SECOND syllable is accented, the initial /h/ is WEAKER, perhaps only very slightly pronounced (It seems especially weak if the following vowel is formed in the front of the mouth -- a, i, e (as opposed to vowels made further back -- o, u)

So, if the first syllable HAS an accent (especially the MAIN accent of the word) it is preceded by "a" --thus we say "A HISTORY" (unless, of course, you're Cockney)

To get the sense of how this works, just try saying the word "historic" all by itself. You may notice that you scarcely pronounce the /h/. Even if you do, it may feel like it takes extra energy do so (whereas when you say "history" the 'energy' is already supplied by accenting the syllable)

[Some have said 'accented' or 'unaccented', but this is not quite correct. When the SECOND syllable is accented, the first syllable has the LEAST accent; if a LATER syllable has the primary accent the first syllable may still have a SECONDARY accent, and the 'rule' just described does not apply. Examples: 'hospitality' 'hippopotamus']

In fact, in expressions like "an historic..." many find that the inclusion of the /n/ can actually make the words easier to pronounce (though in that case the /h/ is usually only VERY slightly pronounced).

Other examples where "an" may be found (all of which have an accent on the second syllable): "an hereditary title" [vs. "a HERitage], "an habitual liar" [vs. "a HA-bit"], cf. "an hysterical child"

Now if you were to try some of these expressions in a search engine you would likely find that "an historic" and "an historical" are much more common (in proportion to "a historic" "a historical") than these other examples. That leads to the FINAL(?) factor that affects pronunciation.

4) HABIT! That is, we're USED to hearing it that way, and so it just seems right, even if it does not follow the "rules" we may generally us for such cases.

Thus, the reason 'historic' and 'historical' are far more likely to be preceded by "an" than other words that might "qualify" is that they are more COMMON words or expressions. People are used to hearing them this way. This is hardly unusual. In any language the LESS common a word is in everyday speech the MORE likely it is speakers apply the "general rules" to that word. Thus, irregular verbs in a language [forms of to be, come, go, sit, etc.] are COMMON words.

Answer 2

Welcome to the wonderful world of the insane English language! Using "an" before "historic" is actually correct, believe it or not! Haven't you gotten used to this language yet? All of the grammatical rules get broken with irregular cases, you never know what applies until you have memorized the proper way to say and spell the word. English is my second language, and I had a hard time learning it because there aren't any basic rules that can be used every single time. That's just the way it is! I still don't understand why the word "Colonel" is actually pronounced "kernel" ....there should be an "r" in the word if you will say it that way!

Answer 3

I believe it's because the word 'history' is taken from the French word 'histoire'. French people don't pronounce the h in words, so 'history' was originally pronounced 'istory', and it still doesn't have a hard 'h' sound when it comes after the word 'an'.

The discrepancies are huge though!
Historically.
An 'istorical occasion.
When the History books are written.
But I believe it's normally 'A History book'!

Maybe the term 'an 'istorical' will eventually fade away too, but for now just let it remind you of the many and varied roots that English words have!

Answer 4

Some variations of English pronounce "historic" with a silent "h", like in the word "honest." Silent "h" use the article "an" before it. Other variations of English simply have a vocal "h" and thus, use the article "a" before the word with a vocal "h", such as, "house."

Answer 5

Actually, I have heard "historic" pronounced more like " istoric" (without using the hard consonant h sound, you referred to)...so the "an" would seem appropriate in that case. But I agree..it should be "a".

(Then again, I am not an expert in this area, so please don't knock me on any grammatical errors in my response.)

Answer 6

The letter H is an exemption to the consonant rule. It sounds silly, but "AN" is actually correct. This is one of those things like "WHOM." No one says it anymore. It's pretty much accepted to go either way. These are the joys of an ever-evolving language.

Answer 7

An is only used in front of a vowel.
Its a historic victory.. not an histroric

Answer 8

American public schools. Do you keep up with the grammitical mistakes of President Bush also?

Answer 9

maybe it's because the 'i' is a hard sound? Isn't english fun?!

Answer 10

because they were learned in public schools??