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List:       kde-promo
Subject:    Re: [kde-promo] please review
From:       Jos Poortvliet <jospoortvliet () gmail ! com>
Date:       2009-10-21 21:39:22
Message-ID: 200910212339.26151.jospoortvliet () gmail ! com
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On Wednesday 21 October 2009 23:28:30 Ingo Klöcker wrote:
> On Wednesday 21 October 2009, Scott Kitterman wrote:
> > On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:22:54 -0400 Troy Unrau <troy.unrau@gmail.com>
> 
> wrote:
> > >2009/10/21 Sebastian Kügler <sebas@kde.org>:
> > >> In the title, is shouldbe "a usability", not "an usability" ("an"
> > >> is only used for contraction).
> > >
> > >"An" is used for any noun starting with a vowel, plus some special
> > >cases ("an historic"). In this case, "An" is correct, although it
> > >sounds wrong.
> >
> > I think it's a British/US English difference.  In British English,
> > AFAIK, it's 'an' and in American English it's 'a'.  The general rule
> > you cite is, of course, correct.  I don't recall why this is an
> > exception.
> 
> It's not an exception and it's not a GB/US English difference. The
> ordinary (written) spelling of "usability" is irrelevant. It's the
> phonetic spelling of "usability" that you have to look at. "usability"
> does _not_ start with a vowel in phonetic spelling, but with the
> consonant 'j' just like "yes" or "you". Therefore, as far as I have
> learned, "a usability" is correct while "an usability" is wrong.
> 
> This Wikipedia article (yes, I know that Wikipedia is not an
> authoritative source) supports my understanding:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_and_an

Interesting. As troy noted, it sounds wrong, so I guess I should've followed 
my instinct ;-)

> 
> Regards,
> Ingo
> 

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