CONTENTS FEATURE: Was it 'an historic inauguration,' or 'a historic inauguration'? GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn up to $500 FEATURE: Was it 'an historic inauguration,' or 'a historic inauguration'?      Two days after Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office, an Internet search found 4,540 references to it as "an historic inauguration" — along with 13,100 citations as "a historic inauguration." Which, then, is correct: "a historic" or "an historic"? That's what readers Tom N. and Dann S. each wondered.      Tom wrote, "I've always used 'an historic,' but over the past few years, and particularly now, I often see 'a historic.' Which do you feel is correct, and why is this change happening? I kind of understand the concept of 'if the "H" is silent,' but that rule doesn't fit this situation."      Dann observed, "Here's my speculation as to why we hear 'an historic,' which has bugged me for many years. Maybe it goes back to the English dropping their 'H' sounds, as in 'an 'istoric event.' I always thought that had something to do with it. Or it could be just that it rolls off the tongue easier and sounds better to most ears. If you listen closely, when most people use 'an' they usually don't emphasize the 'H'."      Tom and Dann each asked a good, pertinent question about choice of indefinite articles ("a" or "an") preceding the word "historic."      The short answer is that either article is acceptable for use with "historic." Our preference at EditPros, however, is "a," based on precedents.      The article "a" is used before a hard consonant sound — for example, "a book," "a disc jockey," "a hamburger" or "a union." Even though the word "union" begins with a vowel, it is pronounced as if it begins with a "y" — its phonetic spelling would appear to be "yewnyon."      The article "an" precedes a noun that begins with a vowel sound — for example, "an airplane," "an uproar" or "an hour." Even though the word "hour" begins with a consonant, it is pronounced the same as "our," and thus takes the article "an."      The choice of indefinite article for multisyllabic words that begin with the letter "H" depends not only on pronunciation, but also on syllable emphasis. The words "hamburger," "headache" and "hydrant" are pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable: HAM-bur-ger; HEAD-ache; HY-drant. He ordered a hamburger. She had a headache. Water flowed from a hydrant. For "H" words that begin with an unstressed first syllable, the article choice is subject to interpretation, however. One such word is "historic," in which the stress is on the second vowel, thusly: his-TOR-ric. So while some people refer to "a historic event," others prefer "an historic event." But the use of "an" with historic is hardly a new trend. If anything, it's a reversion to an antiquated form.      The American Heritage Dictionary observes that "'An' was once a common variant before words beginning with 'h' in which the first syllable was unstressed; thus 18th-century authors wrote either 'a historical' or 'an historical,' but 'a history,' not 'an history.' This usage made sense in that people often did not pronounce the initial 'H' in words such as 'historical' and 'heroic,' but by the late 19th century educated speakers usually pronounced initial 'H,' and the practice of writing 'an' before such words began to die out. Nowadays it survives primarily before the word 'historical.' One may also come across it in the phrases 'an hysterectomy' or 'an hereditary trait.' These usages are acceptable in formal writing."      The dictionary indicates that even when the use of "an" with "history" came into vogue in the 18th century, it was a "variant" — that is, a deviation from the accepted norm.      Although "an" is acceptable with "historic," that choice is inconsistent with other English-language conventions. Consider the word "habit." You would say, "he has a habit of biting his nails." So then would you say "he is a habitual nail biter" or "he is an habitual nail biter"? In the noun "habit," the emphasis is on the initial syllable: HAB-it. In the adjective "habitual," the pronunciation emphasis falls on the second syllable: ha-BIT-u-al. Even though the initial syllable is de-emphasized, it retains its "h" consonant sound. We don't say "a-BIT-u-al"; the correct U.S. pronunciation is "ha-BIT-u-al. Consequently, we would say "he is a habitual nail biter."      The use of "an" does not universally apply to other "H" words that begin with an unstressed syllable. Consider: • a hotel (pronounced "ho-TEL") • a hydraulic brake ("hy-DRAW-lik") • a hilarious comedian ("hih-LAYR-ee-us")      Remember, the choice of article is determined by pronunciation. We wouldn't say "Frank got a F on his English test." We might expect Frank to say "a F" because, after all, he flunked his English test. But here's a case in which we're staring at a consonant — the letter "F" — yet we precede it with the article "an," which is reserved for vowel sounds. Why? Because the letter "F" is pronounced as if it began with a vowel sound: "EF."      Now look at the word "one." It begins with a vowel, but you would refer to "a one-week vacation" rather than "an one-week vacation." Why? Because the word "one" is pronounced as if it began with a consonant — the letter "w" (a WON-week vacation).      Consider the adjective "holistic." It's pronounced "ho-LIS-tic." Would you say "he's an oh-LIST-ic healer" or "he's a ho-LIST-ic healer"? Most native U.S. speakers likely would choose the latter.      Return to the word "historic." Say the word by itself aloud. Americans pronounce it "hiss-tor-ic," not "iss-tor-ic."      The choice is yours, but in U.S. English "an historic" is somewhat of an aberration. GRAMMAR COACH: Fielding your questions 1. Don F. wrote:      "What is the correct pronunciation of 'texted,' as in 'I texted him three times and did not receive a response'? I am certain you have encountered this question before. I would say it is 'text'd' but I hear 'text-ted' also. I write a newspaper column on grammar, and I might write about this pronunciation. If you can offer some authoritative comment, I would like to quote you and attribute it to you. I read your newsletter regularly and think it is excellent." The grammar coach replies:      Thank you, Don. The word "text" is in transition. Most dictionaries recognize it only as a noun; its use as a verb has been casual, and it remains unacceptable in formal writing or speech. The online versions of the American Heritage Dictionary, the Compact Oxford English Dictionary and the Cambridge Dictionary of American English all exclude definitions for "text" as a verb.      Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary has conceded and now includes "text" as a transitive verb meaning "to send a text message from one cell phone to another" and as an intransitive verb it defines as "to communicate by text messaging." However, M-W does not show other inflections (tenses) or their pronunciations. Searching for precedents upon which to base pronunciations is difficult; we're unable to think of any other verbs in the English language that end in "-ext." (The word "vext" is a verb, but it's a variant past-tense inflection of the verb "vex.")      Verbs ending in "-est" may lend a clue, even though that sound is easier to vocalize than "-ext." The "-est" group of verbs includes "jest," "nest," "test" "congest," "arrest," "detest," "invest" and a few others. Pronunciation should agree with the written syllabification of the word. The inflected forms of "test" — test-ed and test-ing — retain the original syllabification of the root word, with the addition of a suffix: -ed or -ing. Just as "tested" is pronounced "TEST-ed" (not "TES-ted"), then "texted" ought to be pronounced "TEXT-ed" (rather than TEX-ted).      In practice, people often fail to enunciate clearly and precisely, however. Rather than saying "test-ed," for example, people are commonly inclined to clip the vowel in the suffix, resulting in the pronunciation "test'd." Likewise, people likely will be inclined to slur the past tense of 'text,' resulting in the pronunciation "TEXT'd" or "TEXT-id" rather than "TEXT-ed."      You won't find us saying that at EditPros, however. For now, we're sticking with "I sent a text message." 2. Sandy E. wrote:      "Can you please solve a question on AP Style and use of serial semicolons? What is the correct use for the last punctuation mark in a serial using semicolons? For example: 'John Smith, president, XYZ company; Mary Jones, CEO, ABC Company; and Agnes Sputnik, CFO, ABC Company, gather to demonstrate....' Is this correct?" The grammar coach replies:      Sandy, the question you asked relates more to grammatical structure for clarity than it does to Associated Press style. Your example sentence is functionally a list contained within running text. Ordinarily, a list must be preceded by introductory material, as shown in the following vertical index. The company created distinct service plans for each of three industry segments: • appliance and electronic products manufacturing • food and beverage processing • life sciences and pharmaceutical products research and development.      The same material also can be presented in running text, using semicolons rather than bullets to demarcate individual items. The company created distinct service plans for each of three industry segments: appliance and electronic products manufacturing; food and beverage processing; life sciences and pharmaceutical products research and development.      Trying to compose the list in inverse order, with the items preceding their introduction, would be confusing. It might appear like this: Appliance and electronic products manufacturing; food and beverage processing; life sciences and pharmaceutical products research and development are the three industry segments for which the company has created distinct service plans.      That's an unnatural word order for presentation of a list of items. The caption about which you asked is a listing that is likewise composed in reverse order. We recommend a revised version: Company executives who gathered to demonstrate the technique included John Smith, president, XYZ Company; Mary Jones, CEO, ABC Company; and Agnes Sputnik, CFO, ABC Company."      Are you perplexed by some aspect of grammar or word usage? Don't be shy! Ask the "grammar coach" at EditPros and we'll try to help—at no charge, just for the sport of it. FINDER'S FEE: Recommend a friend—and earn a finder's fee of up to $500      Do you know of a friend or colleague whose office can benefit from EditPros' services? If you do, EditPros may reward you with a "finder's fee" of up to $500.      EditPros LLC, established in 1993, performs writing, editing, proofreading and publication management services for newsletters, brochures, Web sites, annual reports, research studies, business proposals, and other informational and marketing materials. Our office is in Davis, Calif., between Sacramento and San Francisco; however, our clients include educational institutions, private corporations, health-care organizations, trade associations, scientific research institutions, Web site developers and government agencies from throughout the United States. We have worked with some of them for more than 10 years.      If you recommend our services to a friend or business colleague, and that introduction leads to an assignment for EditPros, we will award you a "finder's fee" equaling 10 percent of the amount we earn on the first assignment for the new client, up to a maximum finder's fee of $500. 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