Maaarysia, marvellous insight! I'd have to ask Ewelina (my co-teacher) or even my wife as they are more up on the history and origins of things than I am. My own personal belief? Yes, French is the stem but it could also be that Londoners dictate things. What do I mean? Well, if you know how they speak then you know that they don't say H but I. It becomes 'istory' and not 'history'. So, 'an historian' is pronounced as 'an istorian' (thus a vowel). This approach has grown in stock amongst prominent writers.
Maaarysia, not exactly. 'A European' and 'a university' are correct due to 'E' and 'u' having consonant (współgłoska) sounds. As codger said, it is a phonetic thing. Mods, please permit a MINOR digression for the purposes of making a point. We have sth that is called the 'schwa' in English. Phonetically, it means an omission, e.g there are 3 syllables in comfortable and not 4. CUM F TIBLE. We have to have an awareness of phonetics to see how it impacts on any given matter. The vowel/consonant distinction is key here :)
I read Robinson Crusoe not long ago at all but he wrote in the 17thC. Dickens? I read Oliver Twist in 1987/1988. I have a huge tome of ACD. I might have picked up some things from them but it would be subconsciously. It doesn't get to the heart of the matter. Why not 'a historian' as I'd say? Sometimes there is 'ellision' to make things easier. That explains why we don't combine certain sounds.
It's a little on a tangent so let's stay central. What's the difference between 'life' and 'the life'???
So, resident Poles, why do some natives choose to say 'an historian'? That's a hard case, I'm being a bit brutal here so maybe why don't we say 'an European' or 'an university'?? (given that e and u are vowels).
The case of "an historian" was told to me by some American people, the same who had drawn my attention to PF. The rest is simple, it's phonetically e juropijen and e juniwersiti ;)
strzyga, most fluent speakers would likely say show of strength for alliterative reasons, like slippery slope
but there's no alliteration in speech, only in writing - the initial sound in show and strength is not the same
btw, another question, which one is better: the initial sound in show and strengthis not the same or the initial sounds in show and strengthare not the same ?
but there's no alliteration in speech, only in writing - the initial sound in show and strength is not the same
I have to be careful not to derail Seanus train of thought. Alliteration is more important in speech most of the poets use it in oratory going back all the way to Beowulf, which was read out to the illiterate masses. Alexw68 used it very well in Defoe,Dickens and Doyle. It appears more intentional in writing and is often unconscious in speech/conversation. I'm sure wiki will give the lowdown.
Wrocław missed his chance to comment on regional English and 'the'. Peter Kay, a renowned stand-up comedian from Bolton in England, often omits the use of 'the'. Where I would say 'I'm going up the motorway and listening to the radio', he'd say 'Am goin up motoway and listenin to radio' in his classic Yorkshire accent. He also says 't'intanet' instead of 'the internet', lol.
Nice one, Seanus-:) Yes, the sibilance of final voiced s'-sounds would confirm your comments. Thomas' verse is though as alliterative as it is assonantal, wouldn't you agree?
Pawian, you are a teacher. In all your years of teaching, have you ever run into difficulties when teaching articles?
Articles are one of major grammar problems that Polish students run into. In written and spoken utterances, missing articles make about 50% of most blatant mistakes. Only really brilliant students use them correctly.
