Why is it AN historian not A historian?

Question

Thanks!

Answer 1

It is correct English. The 'h' is treated as silent although we pronounce it. Any word starting wth 'h' has the indefinite article 'an' instead of 'a'. e.g. an hotel.

Answer 2

And why A history? The answer is that the stress is on "his-" whereas the stress is on the "tor" in historian. The same applies to "hotplate" versus "hotel."
"An" is used before vowels because of the awkwardness of saying (and thence writing) a apple, a evening, etc.. However "a uniform" because the "u" is pronounced as a "y", so no awkwardness exists.
A word beginning with an unstressed "h-syllable" presents the same vocal difficulty as vowels.
Dialect enters into the subject because the stress may be placed elsewhere. For example, in many areas of the U.S., the first syllable of "hotel" is stressed - in that case, "an hotel" would be unthinkable.

Answer 3

You cant have an 'a' before a vowel and for some reason an 'h' is sometimes used in the same way.
It's something like that anyway!!

Answer 4

It is always A historian.

Answer 5

Most people these days pronounce words with the letter "H" at the beginning (human, huge, historic, et cetera.) without actually saying the "H", so they put 'an' at the beginning instead of 'a'.

Answer 6

This depends upon which side of the pond you are. US usage favours the silent H, while the UK prefers the aspirate H.

Answer 7

Reminds me of the G.B. Shaw answer to the man who said:"I've got an 'orrible 'eadache", to which the the Great Man replied, "Take an aspirant!"

Answer 8

In a lot of British dialects, initial "h"s aren't pronounced, so it became a rule that most words beginning in "h" use "an".

Answer 9

Use A, when it is a hard, sounded H.
Hamburger, House, Habit - American English.
C. :)!!

Answer 10

it is an improper use of the English language....