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

In a message dated Fri, 23 Nov 2001  7:10:09 PM Eastern Standard Time, laokou <laokou@...> writes:

> From: "Nik Taylor"
>
> > Yet, only before unstressed vowels.  I still say "A history".  I think
> > part of the reason is that before stressed vowels, my /h/ is pronounced
> > with greater force.  Before an unstressed vowel, like "historic", the
> > /h/ is very soft, barely there, and is thus not strong enough to force
> > "a" to be used.  So, /@ "hIstr=i/ vs. /In (h)Is'torIk/.  That weak /h/
> > is ignored in determining the form of the article.
>
> If that's the way you're idiolect works, so be it. I'm not here to trample
> on that. Still, I thought there was some reference to the media somewhere
> along the way, and from there I often hear an overly exaggerated "an
> historic event" (&nhIs"tOrIkI"vEnt), seemingly trying to give "an historic"
> importance to an event (that's what American news coverage does). I'm
> simply, based on my own experience, surprised that that's normal SAE usage.
>
> Kou
I think I too use [n.] before several words that are spelled with H such as
historic: [n.@s'tOr@k] or [&n@s'tor@k]

Elliott