Origins of ‘a’ and ‘an’

Day 123 / 365

One thing all of us will remember from our English lessons is the differences between a and an.

It’s a home, but an apartment

It’s a letter, but an envelope

And the rule that we all know for deciding is quite easy as well. We have the five vowels — a, e, i, o, and u. If a word starts with a vowel use ‘an’, otherwise use ‘a’. Pretty simple right.

There a few exceptions, as you would expect with English. For example, we would say “an honor” even though honor starts with an ‘h’ that’s not a vowel. This is because it sounds as if it starts with ‘o’. Similarly, you would say ‘a one of a kind’ even though one starts with ‘o’ because we pronounce it like ‘won’.

But where do all these rules come from?

The reason for using ‘an’ before a vowel is because if we use ‘a’ instead, we would have an uncomfortable pause between saying ‘a’ and saying the word. This pause is known as the ‘glottal stop’. Try it yourself, try saying ‘a owl’, and notice how you have that pause between the two words. ‘An owl’, on the other hand, goes along smoothly. No pause required.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — You’ll never get out of this world alive