Re: an + h (was: aquamarine demon (was <no subject>))

Kou wrote:
>I suspect "an historic event" (where most newscasters pronounce that "h"
>without any difficulty) has been canonized as the language of true import.
>As spelling the word "theater" and "center" spelled "theatre" and "centre"
>connote "hey, we're talking high art here", the insertion of "an" into "an
>historic event" by the media means "we're talking news of groundbreaking
>significance" (I haven't heard a local newscaster say, "an hippopotamus").
>It's also used in academia to imply that theories from the Ivory Tower are
>important. I've only heard it in this set context. That Nik uses this as a
>regular feature of his idiolect throws me for a loop.

By George, I think you've got it.
Umm. Occasionally guilty as charged.  I have the feeling "historic(al)" is
the only word that really gets an "an".... well, "an hysterical...." too,
though unlikely to occur in your average PhD diss.  The stress pattern is
probably significant.

Still and all, since there _are_ literate American speakers who use "an"
where others do not, one should hesitate to ascribe it in every case to
rampant Anglophilia, pretension or affectation.