Daniel Hanson

Posted on 11/07/09

On 11/07/09, palomablanca wrote:
> Thank you for your answer and for taking the time to look this up. I
> think I have known about the rule for the letters when used on their own
> like "A Y line". To me, an word, sounds really weird and it is probably
> because not everybody says "an word", but "a word". (At least people that
> I know) Do you agree?

Yes, it was a mistake on my part. :) I appreciate you taking
the time to notice.

> "The "Word Book" dictionary has this comment: ".........Note that one's
> choice is determined by the initial sound, not by the spelling. Usage
> varies before words beginning with h in an unstressed syllable, like
> historical or hotel, where, because the h is commonly silent or weakly
> articulated, many use an. In Great Britain an is occassionally used
> before united and euphonious, which begin with the sound of (y).

Yes, this sounds similar to what I was reading in some dictionary usage
excerpts.

> This reminds me a little of writing "el" before femenine words in
> Spanish. El alma,(stress on al); el aguila,(written accent on the a); el
> agua,(stress on a), el arpa, (stress on ar). Do you remember these?

Yes, of course, I remember those. :) It also nowadays is applied to the
indefinite article as well as the "determinantes" like "ningún" and "algún"
as well. As for demonstrative adjectives, the pattern hasn't reached that
far yet.

> Anyway, is too bad that I live so far from you, we could spend an
> afternoon talking language. Thanks again.

Always a pleasure. Yes, I'm a language nerd, especially with regards to
Spanish.

I have different instant messengers that support audio and I have a
microphone headset. I don't know if that helps or not. I don't have a cam or
Skype though.

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