A POINT OF GRAMMER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2250, 22 March 1886, Page 3

A POINT OF GRAMMER.

A foreign correspondent of tho Academy I'wbr cruelly raises tho question of tho usaflf "a" or "an" boforo names or adjectives beginning with a consonant or ■ vowol. Ho appears to bo most exercised lis to whether ho ought to say " a historical" or" an historical." " Most English writers," ho says, ."use tho form'an historical,' and the grammarians allownay, oven prescribe it"; but, as he argues, tho"h" in "historical" is not silent, and so wo ought to say if wo do not a historical," So we ought strictly r Speaking, and so wo fancy do most English writers, in spite of tho correspondent's statement, liut no wonder lie feels a little embarrassed. It is to bo feared that out grammatical habits are not very uniform. He says wo sometimes say "an haranguo," "an havmonous Perse," and so oh, and tho hard impeachment cannot bo denied. Equally true is it thatvosometimes say "an unanimous resolution," "an useless waste," and, strictly speaking, that, too, is quito correct. But on occasion we choose to assumo that 'y' is understood before the "u"in " useless," and we thereforo say " a useless," and it is unquestionable that the latter is the more euphonious mode. " A useless" goes more trippingly than " an useless," which requires some effort. Unquestionably, too," an historiis smoother than. " a historical," thMjict boing that while "ahistory" (witw the emphasis on the first syllable) liounds all right, " a historical" (with the scent on the second syllable) is a little .. . laborious. Probably, in common even'- ■: - day parlance, the average man. or' woman' ' uses 'a' or 1 an' according to euphony, and' without reference to grammar. ? ■We speak rapidly, and are apt to saei'ific.c the aspir- ■' Rt.o to tho exigencies of speed, And, certainly, that is the pleasantest; solution ' of the problem. If it were.but a matter of sound!. •But<Mhe4cfecs|»mleto' '■ of the' Academy' has stirred the waters'; ■ find ho may expect to, hiive all tho' grain- ; marians " down upon" him with a crowd' ■ of arguments.—Dunedhi " Star,"' . .