2 silly questions about the english language

[Dauphin]

Yeah, quite offen.

[Eroberer]

I'll say one thing, the "a"-"an" rules and pronunciation rules in English are a lot easier to get a grip on than the multiple genders of other languages.

Is anyone willing to explain that in a thread on language?

Anyway, answer to 2) that's probably personal preference, but I wouldn't judge a person on it. It's generally very easy to pick out those who are new to the language, what with accents and all.

"Often," can be either way, as somebody else said, but it's probably never wrong to just pronounce the "t." It's really not a conscious decision or anything either.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Arrian
What's wrong with pronouncing the t in often?



-Arrian

Cause, like the OP said, you sound like a snob.

[DRoseDARs]

Per MSN Encarta:

of·ten


adverb
Definition:

frequently: at short intervals or repeatedly

[13th century. Alteration of oft]

every so often regularly but with fairly long intervals between each occurrence

more often than not fairly frequently, or in a majority of instances



Pronunciation of often

: 15th-century England saw a tendency among speakers of English to omit some consonants in an effort to pronounce some words more easily. Such was the case with the letter t in often. To this day, the preferred pronunciations of this word are /áwf'n, óff'n, /, though some speakers do pronounce the t. Other words, such as listen, soften, hasten, and glisten, in which the t is never pronounced, reflect that same 15th-century trend.

Hadn't thought about it offen, but that is odd how the t gets dropped in some words and not others.

[Q Classic]

Re: 1.

What people are saying is right, generally, though it's more simply explained as: if verbally the sound begins with a vowel, then it's an; if not, it's a.

For example:
an X-Ray.
an examination.
an hour.

a V-neck.
a car.
a harrier.

[Barnabas]

Those words sound more german with the t

[DanS]

A versus An is based on the sound of the beginning of the word rather than whether the word begins with a consonant or a vowel.

A boy
An hour
A dog
An egg
A youth
An M&M

There are some quirks, such as "an history" being correct. For all French-derived English words, you would probably have to look at the original French to see if a or an is correct -- e.g., l'histoire rather than la histoire.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
Per MSN Encarta:


Hadn't thought about it offen, but that is odd how the t gets dropped in some words and not others.

Well it really should be dropped in often too, but people are just hanging on for some strainge reason.

[OzzyKP]

"an history" is correct? No way.

[DanS]

Sure is. Take it from an history major.

I think "a history" is also acceptable due to common usage making it acceptable.

[Dauphin]

I have to pronounce it 'istory for that to make good sense. Which, given the local dialect, is not difficult to get away with.

[Elok]

1 has been answered adequately. As for 2, it depends how often (which is always "offen" to me, BTW) it happens and in what way, and also on how much experience the person has had with the language.

What's always baffled me is "iron." Ayern. I don't think I've ever heard anyone try to pronounce it "aye-run," but really there's nothing in the word to indicate that the O, of all letters, is silent. I guess "colonel" is even worse. Kernel, WTF? Makes you wonder if the written form was just made up by someone who hated corn. Or Linux.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Elok
I guess "colonel" is even worse. Kernel, WTF? Makes you wonder if the written form was just made up by someone who hated corn. Or Linux.

It's pronounced core-rah-nel in some parts.

[DRoseDARs]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
Well it really should be dropped in often too, but people are just hanging on for some strainge reason.

I refuse to pronounce it "o f f e n" so I'll chalk this up to your anti-ageism: You hate anything old, especially old pronounciations.

[DanS]

There are lots of interesting quirks not often noticed by native English-speakers. Like the word "the" is pronounced either thee or thuh. Thee before words beginning with a vowel sound. Thuh for words beginning with a consonant sound.