5 ms·
As a super minor grammar point for the author, "ubiquitous" is a rare example of a word that starts with a vowel but should be proceeded by "a" instead of "an".
by randomizedalgs 3y ago
As a super minor grammar point for the author, "ubiquitous" is a rare example of a word that starts with a vowel but should be proceeded by "a" instead of "an".
- taneq 3y agoIt's regional depending on silent or transmuted consonants in the local vernacular. An 'ospital, an 'orse, a nuncle, it's a yewbiquitous phenomenon.
- tomrod 3y agoOy, keep yer spillage off my napron!
- jjtheblunt 3y agoI think that's got to be a great test for foreign spies! "ubiquitous" starts with the sound of "you-biquitous" and so the suffix -n is a duplicated non-vowel. ("y" is probably a vocalic glide, but still not in {a,e,i,o,u}.) I bet the real rule is some reality about feasibility of pronunciation, even though native english speakers see the rules explained in terms of spellings.
- loxias 3y ago> I bet the real rule is some reality about feasibility of pronunciation YUP! Sorry I don't have a good citation handy, but lots of English grammar happens as a result of misaligned word boundaries. "napron" (from the French naperon) became "an apron". Orange (from the Arabic naranj)... "an ewt" became "a newt". etc.
- JoshTriplett 3y ago> I bet the real rule is some reality about feasibility of pronunciation, even though native english speakers see the rules explained in terms of spellings. The rule as often given in English classes is to use "an" if a word starts with a "vowel sound", rather than starting with a vowel. So, it's "an herb" (since the 'h' is silent in (American) English), but "a ubiquitous". Relatedly, you can infer whether someone likely pronounces "URL" by spelling it out (like "you are ell") or as a word (like "earl") based on whether they write "a URL" or "an URL".
- mvc 3y agoAs someone who uses a dialect/accent of English that means I often pronounce these "silent" letters (e.g. I would pronounce the "h" in herb), I've often wondered if selection of "a" vs "an" is supposed to be accent specific.
- JoshTriplett 3y agoI think so, yes; if you say "herb" with a non-silent 'h', you'd write "a herb". By way of example, the name Herb is commonly pronounced with a non-silent H, so even in a dialect where "herb" is pronounced "erb", you'd write "A Herb picked up an herb.".
- ithkuil 3y agoA union A urinal ...