On May 11, 2000 CBC TV's The National ran a story about an author who had written a book on Nazi war criminals in Canada. The reporter said the man "knows he's about to kick an historical hornet's nest." The next night, The National called the Nisga'a treaty in B.C. "an historic change."

At first glance, everything appears to be in order. The term hornet's nest (not hornets' nest) is uncontroversial. It's been around since at least the 1740s — much longer than the Nisga'a nation's fight for a land settlement. The adjectives "historical" and "historic" are also undisputed. The book deals with history, while the treaty makes it.

But what about that tiny article an? Should it be a? Does it matter?

AN, BRIEF HISTORY

The confusion over a and an before a word beginning with an "h" goes back centuries.

In the King James Version of the Old Testament, for instance, "an heritage of the Lord" stands out today as odd. But years ago, the "h" sound was often imperceptible at the start of many words, including historic, heroic, and humble. And when an "h" disappears an "n" naturally shows up.

All you have to do is pick "herbs" to see it's sometimes a matter of taste. In North America, for example, herb usually has a silent "h" and so takes the word an. In Britain, however, herb is aspirated, so a is the common choice.

TAKING A STAND

Many authorities today insist that an historic is wrong. The rule, they say, is based on pronunciation, not spelling:

• Any word beginning with an aspirated "h" (one that's sounded when spoken) always takes "a". For example, a hotel, a holiday, a history professor, and a historic treaty.

• Any word beginning with an unaspirated "h" (one that isn't sounded when spoken) takes "an". For example, an hour, an heir, an honour, and depending on dialect an herb. In fact these four words (and their derivatives) are the only common English terms that fall into this category. Oops. Make that five. An honest mistake.

AN EXCEPTION

Some experts, however, believe it's more complicated than that. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (published by Oxford in 1996), for instance, maintains that when the first syllable of a word that begins with an aspirated "h" is unstressed a writer may use either a or an, depending on pronunciation.

"The thoroughly modern thing to do is to use a, never an, together with an aspirated "h" — a habitual, a heroic, a historical, a Homeric, a hypothesis," according to New Fowler's.

But the book goes on to argue that there is no reason an should be banned from words that begin with "h" as long as they're given "minimal or nil aspiration." Put another way, if in your 'eart you truly believe that adjectives such as 'istoric and 'orrific should be pronounced without the "h" (or with very little emphasis placed on it), then an is perfectly acceptable.

CBC STYLE

For decades, most major newsrooms have embraced the convention that an historic is either archaic or just plain poor English. The 1962 New York Times Style Book, which still has a place in the library on the third floor of CBC's Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, spells it out clearly. So does the 1983 Toronto Star Style Book, which begins with the words "the rule is not complicated." The 1993 Chicago Manual of Style agrees. So does the 1998 Globe & Mail Style Book. CBC Radio and CBC Television also have Style Guides that recommend a historic.

Does the definite stand on an indefinite article make sense? One test would be to return to the nest in the story about the Nazis. Most broadcasters would swat down "an hornet" before the phrase made it to air. So consistency becomes a hallmark of what some might consider a hysterical campaign against the words an historical.

WEB WARNING

Now that Canada's public broadcaster also "publishes" stories on the Internet, writers have to worry about detail that was less important before. In the past, for instance, viewers and listeners never saw reporters' scripts and, so, didn't know if hastily typed words were misspelled or commas were out of place.

In the case of "a" and "an" we have to pay attention to more than just the letter "h". Any words that begin with a vowel sound take an, including numbers and abbreviations. So it would be "an MP" and "an 11-kilometre road."

While these constructions are obvious to anyone speaking into a microphone or over a coffee, when you're writing something for the eye and not the ear the "n" can slip away if you're not careful. The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words, for example, cites this sentence from the Washington Post: "Cox will contribute 10 percent of the equity needed to build a $80 million cable system". (It should be an $80 million.)

CONCLUSION

While it's not necessarily wrong to write "an historic agreement," it's considered a hilarious phrase by many authorities. Of course journalists should be guided by love of reason, not fear of ridicule. So what should they do?

The 1997 Oxford Guide to Canadian English Usage offers the following advice:

In British English in the past, the initial 'h' was pronounced weakly or not at all in words with an unstressed first syllable, so 'an' was generally used before these words.

Canadians borrowed this practice, even when they pronounced the 'h'. Now the British too are pronouncing the 'h' in these words, and British usage guides are recommending against the unnecessary 'an'. It is probably time for Canadians to let it go too.

CBC Radio and TV language guides have already taken this step. But with an historic so entrenched in so many corners of Canada, the debate over whether it's good or bad will probably go on, an' on, an' on.