hello kids,

for all you armchair grammarians out there,  gran's looking for a
specific grammar rule as it applies to "a" and "an."  we all know you
use "a" with words beginning with consonants and "an" with words
beginning with vowels/vowel sound.

what I'm looking is at least three reputable reference sites that
address the exception to this rule --  where "an" is used with words
beginning with a consonant but which have a predominant vowel sound.  
for example, "will consider giving the patient *an* SSRI," "consider
doing *an* MRI."

these, however, are both acronyms examples.  are there other
exceptions to this rule not involving acronyms?   please omit examples
of words beginning with "h."

thanks ever so much,
GB

Granny -- I hope that I correctly understood "Go, Baby" to refer to me
as the "baby."  So I am hereby transporting my comment into the answer
box, with a thought on pinkfreud-ga's comment added at the end:

Since I started the "Y" thing, I took it upon myself to browse through
the seven pages of my American Heritage Dictionary to look for other
candidates.  Here are the nouns I found, which can take the indefinite
article "an".  I have thrown in an "X" word at the end.
 
1. Yggdrasil -- "The great ash tree that holds together earth, heaven,
and hell by its roots and branches in Norse mythology."  (Proper noun)
 
Use in Sentence -- "Here is an Yggrasil.com 'Pointless poll': 
Which of these beers, judging solely by name, sounds like the most
interesting to try?  Delirium Tremens, Pirate Ale, Pranquester, Rogue
Dead Guy, Skull Splitter, Spaten Lager, Wood Chuck Granny?"
http://yggdrasil.net/ 
 
 
2. ylem -- "A form of matter hypothesized by proponents of the big
bang theory to have existed before the formation of the chemical
elements."
 
Use in Sentence -- "The Paracloud Crystal is an 'Ylem-featured
product' at the Community Store at ylem.org":
http://www.ylem.org/ 
 
 
3. yquem -- "A sweet white wine from the Sauterne region of southwest
France."
 
Use in Sentence -- "Julie was so particular about what she drank that
she insisted on an Yquem spritzer."
 
 
4. Ypres -- "See leper."  (It turns out to be a town in Belgium, also
known as Leper.) (Proper noun)
 
Use in sentence -- "In Belgium, an Ypres tradition is its annual Cat's
Festival."
http://sepdata.virtualave.net/belgium1.html  
 
 
5. ytterbia (or ytterbian oxide) -- "A soft, bright, silvery
rare-earth element . . .  ."
 
Use in Sentence:  "In an earlier paper, we reported on a small
grid-connected thermophotovoltaic system consisting of an ytterbia
mantle emitter and silicon solar cells with 16% efficiency (under
solar irradiance at Standard Test Conditions (STC)."
http://people.web.psi.ch/palfinger/2002-rome-tpv-durisch.pdf 
 
 
6. yttria (or yttrium oxide) -- "A silvery mettallic element, not a
rare earth, but occurring in nearly all rare-earth minerals, used in
various mettalurgical applications . . .  ."
 
Use in Sentence:  "The aim of this research is to exploit the
microstructural modifications brought about during preparation of an
yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in order to impact the material's
performance when applied as a thermal barrier coating (TBC)."
http://www.epscor.org/davis.html 
 
 
The only other word I can come up with that begins with a consonant,
is not hyphenated, and takes the indefinite article "an" is "Xmas."
 
 
The source for all of the words is the American Heritage Dictionary,
Third Edition (1992).

The source for the sentence examples are the websites cited, except
that I made up the example about the wine spritzer.

Finally, with regard to pinkfreud-ga's comment about "X-ray," I did
not consider hyphenated words like "X-ray," "F-stop," "L-dopa" and
many others to be true examples of qualifying nouns because they are
compound words with their initial "word" being a letter of the
alphabet.

 
 
markj-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by markj-ga on 17 Jul 2003 09:22 PDT

Granny -- 

Upon reflection, I think I can articulate why I have been unable to
find sites that discuss non-acronym/abbreviation exceptions to the
familiar "a-an" general rule.  It is probably because the general rule
already includes the notion that words that begin with a vowel
"sound," not necessarily a vowel, are always preceded by the
indefinite pronoun "an."   This means that my several "y" examples --
which are all derived directly from foreign languages -- are not
really exceptions.

That would leave "Xmas" as the only example I can find of a single
word (i.e., non-hyphenated or compound, and not an abbreviation or
acronym) that takes an "an" and begins with a genuine consonant; that
is, a consonant that is not substituting for a vowel in the way the
"y" substitutes for "i" in the other examples.

I did find an online source with an especially interesting discussion
about words that  begin with a vowel but take the indefinite pronoun
"a" because they begin with a consonant "sound."  These include the
words "one" and "union" (and many other words beginning with a long
"u".

Here is a link to that discussion:
Linguist List
http://www.linguistlist.org/~ask-ling/archive-most-recent/msg00537.html

Interestingly, using "an" with such words was once accepted, but is
now "entirely obsolete:"
Bartleby.com: American Heritage Book of English Usage
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/001.html


markj-ga

I hear ya, markie-mark.  granny put a lotta hours into this so she's
familiar with the terrain.  even signed up for a trial of xrefer {hey,
there's one -- even if I backed into it!}, but it was of no real help.
 appreciate your bustin' your head against the wall though.  wish I
could pay all of you for your head wounds.  as always, my undying
thanks will have to do.

Here's another exception to the rule:

Whether one uses "an" or "a" is determined entirely by the sound that
follows the article, because the only reason for using "an" is to
prevent the vowel sound of "a" from eliding into the vowel sound that
begins the next word.  That is why we use "a," not "an" before a word
beginning with a long "u," because the word sounds as though it begins
with a "y":

     a U.S. decision in favor of a unilateral strike

On the other hand, if the word begins with a short "u", then that is a
vowel sound, so the word would be preceded by "an":

     an unlikely story
     an unworthy opponent

http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/acronyms.html

With the exception of acronyms and abbreviations which begin with a
vowel sound (such as "an FBI agent"), I haven't found any other
descriptions of the propriety of using "an" rather than "a" before a
word beginning with a consonant. I can't think of a common English
word that begins with a consonant, yet has the initial sound of a
vowel. There are trade names such as "Xtra", of course. Would words
starting with 'Y' be considered?

As usual, you ask some of the most interesting question, Gran.

yep, y-words are fine.  I just have plenty of h-word examples on this already.

thanks for the long/short "u" example.  I can definitely use that one.

I'm not a researcher but maybe these examples will help you or a
researcher find what you need.

a one-pound coin
a unit of blood
a university degree
a European cafe

Here's a bit on the acronym rule:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/library/Grammar/Acronyms.html

"Some letters of the alphabet take one form of "a" or "an" while words
starting with it take the other. In the case of acronyms, the correct
form of the indefinite article to use depends on whether people
normally pronounce the acronym as a word or as a succession of
individual letters:

"An NBC news broadcast featured segments devoted to a NATO initiative
in Bosnia and an NAACP effort to improve inner-city schools."

And this article from CBS was interesting but heavy on the H-examples:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/words/ananda.html

"we all know you use "a" with words beginning with consonants and "an"
with words beginning with vowels/vowel sound."

Not quite true.  As pinkfreud noted, it is the sound, rather than the
spelling, which determines the use of a or an.  There are analagous
situations in non-English languages, such as the Spanish "u" instead
of "o" (the English word OR) when preceeding a word starting with the
"o" sound, or "e" instead of "y" (the English word AND) when
preceeding a word starting with the "y" (or "i") sound.

"An FBI agent..." -> "an eff-bee-eye agent"  'an' preceeds the vowel
sound 'eh'
"A US decision..." -> "a yew-ess decision"  'a' preceeds the consonant
sound 'yh'

Thus the switch from "A Federal Bureau of Investigation agent" to "An
FBI agent"

you are correct, senator,

I'm looking for instances that break that basic rule -- preferably
from a grammar site where there's terse phrasing and tons of examples.
 Xrefer used to do this the best, IMO, but they've now gone to a
signup-type service that've not bothered with yet but I'd better soon.
 http://www.xrefer.com

the acronym rule from the .gov site mentioned along with the
long/short "u" sound rule, I can certainly use.  but, just to clarify,
I'm looking for instances that diverge from the standard.  extra bonus
if you can find a word beginning with a *consonant* (*besides* an "h"
or an acronym) where an "an" immediately precedes it.  I would tend to
agree with Pinkie that there may be none but that's just our two minds
saying that.  I'd like someone to prove us wrong, if possible.

I'm including these rules with examples in a memo, so the shorter the
phrasing, the better.  thanks for all your help with this, guys and
gals!

An Ypsilanti, Michigan native might suggest that his home town
deserves to be mentioned here, although the "Y" is used as a vowel in
this case.

great example, markj!  that's exactly what I'm after.  thank you! 
that will work perfectly for a proper name example.  I suppose someone
could go through the dictionary for any other y-words that would fit
the bill.  five would probably suffice.

babading -- 

Since I started the "Y" thing, I took it upon myself to browse through
the seven pages of my American Heritage Dictionary to look for other
candidates.  Here are the nouns, which could take the indefinite
article "an".  I have thrown in an "X" word at the end.

1. Yggdrasil -- "The great ash tree that holds together earth, heaven,
and hell by its roots and branches in Norse mythology."  (Proper noun)

Use in Sentence -- "Here is an Yggrasil.com 'Pointless poll:
Which of these beers, judging solely by name, sounds like the most
interesting to try?  Delirium Tremens, Pirate Ale, Pranquester, Rogue
Dead Guy, Skull Splitter, Spaten Lager, Wood Chuck Granny?"
http://yggdrasil.net/


2. ylem -- "A form of matter hypothesized by proponents of the big
bang theory to have existed before the formation of the chemical
elements."

Use in Sentence -- "The Paracloud Crystal is an "Ylem-featured
product" at the Community Store at ylem.org":
http://www.ylem.org/


3. yquem -- "A sweet white wine from the Sauterne region of southwest
France."

Use in Sentence -- "Julie was so particular about what she drank that
she insisted on Yquem spritzers."


4. Ypres -- "See leper."  (It turns out to be a town in Belgium, also
known as Leper.) (Proper noun)

Use in sentence -- "In Belgium, an Ypres tradition is its annual Cat's
Festival."
http://sepdata.virtualave.net/belgium1.html 


5. ytterbia (or ytterbian oxide) -- "A soft, bright, silvery
rare-earth element . . .  ."

Use in Sentence:  "In an earlier paper, we reported on a small
grid-connected thermophotovoltaic system consisting of an ytterbia
mantle emitter and silicon solar cells with 16% efficiency (under
solar irradiance at Standard Test Conditions (STC)."
http://people.web.psi.ch/palfinger/2002-rome-tpv-durisch.pdf


6. yttria (or yttrium oxide) -- "A silvery mettallic element, not a
rare earth, but occurring in nearly all rare-earth minerals, used in
various mettalurgical applications . . .  ."

Use in Sentence:  "The aim of this research is to exploit the
microstructural modifications brought about during preparation of an
yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in order to impact the material's
performance when applied as a thermal barrier coating (TBC)."
http://www.epscor.org/davis.html

 

The only other word I can come up with that begins with a consonant,
is not hyphenated, and takes the indefinite article "an" is "Xmas."


If this information turns out to be sufficient for your purposes, I
would be honored to join the select company of those who have answered
one of Granny's questions.  If it is not, what the heck.


markj-ga

go, baby!

Dear Badabing,

Markj mentions the Belgian town of Ypres, but this is more interesting
than he claims.  With its correct pronunciation (EE-pruh), "an" would,
of course, be correct.  But we should remember that the soldiers of
the Great War fought a number of battles there, and the British among
them, at least, tended to pronounce the name as if it were spelled
"wipers": this pronunciation - still heard in appropriate contexts -
would require "a".

Carnegie

As an example of a word beginning with a consonant, but with the sound
of a vowel, how about "an X-ray"?

Hi Granny!

Following up on Pink's xellent xample, how about:

"An xylophone"?

websearcher-ga

websearcher,

When spoken, doesn't "xylophone" begin with a 'Z' sound?

Hi Pink:

Well, I've always heard it pronounced with a very slight "ex" before
the more prominent "z" sound - so it makes more sence to me to use
"an". However, that could be a "regional" thing, I admit.

websearcher

yep, mj, twas what I meant.  I'll be back to rate this over the
weekend.  gran's maxxed to the gills elsewhere at the moment.  thanks
for all the input, kids!

I agree with the comment by haversian.  The letter 'X' is spelled
"ecks" and words such as MRI and F-stop the letters are phonetically
spelled out, so M="em" and F="ef".  Therefore they begin with a vowel
and are preceded by "an".  Alternately a word such as "university"
phonetically becomes "you-ni-ver-sitee" and has a consonent sound and
is therefore precede by "a".

My favorite is a snippet from Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance:"

"To rescue such an one as I, from his unfortunate position."  

I try to use it often.

this is as far as I got on the "rule" front...

"We use a before singular count-nouns that begin with consonants (a
cow, a barn, a sheep); we use an before singular count-nouns that
begin with vowels or vowel-like sounds (an apple, an urban blight, an
open door). Words that begin with an h sound often require an a (as in
a horse, a history book, a hotel), but if an h-word begins with an
actual vowel sound, use an an (as in an hour, an honor). We would say
a useful device and a union matter because the u of those words
actually sounds like yoo (as opposed, say, to the u of an ugly
incident). The same is true of a European and a Euro (because of that
consonantal "Yoo" sound). We would say a once-in-a-lifetime experience
or a one-time hero because the words once and one begin with a w sound
(as if they were spelled wuntz and won)."  
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/determiners/determiners.htm

There are two types of nouns: countable and non-countable.  Countable
nouns are nouns that can have a number in front of them. (see
examples)
Noncouuntable nouns are nouns that have no plural form.  We cannot put
a number in front of them.    (see examples)

ü       “a” is used before the first mention of a singular countable
noun that begins with a consonant sound.

ü       “an”  is used if the singular countable noun begins with a
vowel sound.  If there are adjectives between the indefinite article
and the noun, use the sound of the adjective nearest the article to
determine whether “a” or “an” should be used.   Most words that begin
with a vowel sound also begin with a vowel letter.  However, there are
some exceptions, and those exceptions mostly occur with words that
begin with “h” or “u”. (see examples)
http://www.bergen.cc.nj.us/library/learning/english/handouts/articlerules.htm

on the "h" and stressed/unstressed dilemma:
http://www.scribe.com.au/tip-w005.html
http://www.grammartips.homestead.com/historical.html

some recent rules additions:
"Is it a FAQ or an FAQ? If you say "fack," use "a". If you say
"eff-ay-cue," use "an". Such recent terms do not have a single,
standard pronunciation. For a report on how people say FAQ, URL, and
so on," see:
http://www.onelook.com/survey_results.shtml

"Consider whether the abbreviated form is pronounced or spelled when
using the indefinite article a or an before it. For example, the
acronym SQL is pronounced "sequel," not "S-Q-L." So "a SQL
application" (not "an SQL application") is correct. Likewise, write
"an MGraphic object" (not "a MGraphic object")."
http://pcroot.cern.ch/TaligentDocs/TaligentOnline/DocumentRoot/1.0/Docs/books/SG/SG_5.html

Thanks a lot, you who is yclept Granny.  I most ywis look forward to
meeting up with you again.  If you'll excuse me, it's 7 PM here and
time for my evening Yquem.

markj

you betcha, mr. smartykins!  ran onto a ditty at this website
http://www.foundmagazine.com/audio.html and thought of ya.

me singing
the weather is...
stacey from the line
avon minisure
ypsilanti all-starz

take 'er easy, doll,
granny