Re: [Caml-list] "a 'a list" or "an 'a list"

[Sven Luther <sven.luther@wanadoo.fr>]

On Sat, Aug 07, 2004 at 03:46:56PM -0700, don groves wrote:
> At 14:39 8/7/2004, Brian Hurt wrote:
> 
> >>From one of the many pendants-R-us discussion forums I'm on, this question
> >came up: which is grammatically correct: "a 'a list", or "an 'a list",
> >when discussing Ocaml types in english?  Is there a standard (de-facto or
> >de-jure) or just whatever sounds right to the ear of the writter?
> >
> >To the french reading this discussion: please remember that English as a
> >language not only borrows words from other languages, it often lures
> >unsuspecting languages down dark alleys, hits them over the head with a
> >lead pipe, and rifles through their pockets for loose grammar.
> 
> 
> And yet, it has become our international standard. So much for superior
> human intelligence.
> 
> It is "an" whenever the following word begins with a vowel or vowel sound
> (such as 'an historical event')

Notice that the rest of the rules seem to say that if the second letter of the
word is then a 'n' again, you don't say an, but a. (a anecdote, and not an
anectode). Not fully sure of this rule though, but in this case would you then
write : a 'a nupplet ?

Friendly,

Sven Luther

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