To quote the Society for Historical Archaeology
Publications Style Guide (2001), which is pertinent
to, among other things, the journal _Historical
Archaeology_ (yeah, that rag...)

"an historic; an historical; an historian"
(Section V .E .3)
http://www.sha.org/download/StyleGuide.doc

"A" may be correct in your offices or for some
journals, but not in HA-land.

Gwyn Alcock
Statistical Research, Inc., Redlands, CA


"Suzanne M. Gurenlian" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Finally, the proper use of English! Thank you Carol
and Bill!!

Sister Mary, COGS, ULC

Quoting Carol Serr :

> I have noticed this too Bill. I have read many
reports where people write
> "an historical" (historian, etc.)...but this is NOT
correct....but I didnt
> care to stick my neck out on here (this List) and
correct them. hee
> hee. Thanks for sticking yours out. :o)
>
> At 12:42 PM 12/8/03 -0700, you wrote:
> >Just to add a bit of fuel to the fire, many people
incorrectly use the
> >article "an"
> >incorrectly with many words that begin with "H."
This may be
> >grammatically correct
> >in some countries, but, in the United States, the
rule is that if the "H"
> >is silent, use
> >"an" just as if the word actually began with a
vowel, such as "an
> >hour." If the "H" is
> >pronounced, us the article "A," such as "a
historian."
> >
> >Enjoy,
> >
> >Bill
>