The word year when pronounced starts with a phonetic sound of e which is a vowel sound making it eligible for being preceded by an. Yet, we tend to write a year. Why?
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Related: Why is it “an yearly”? (note that "an yearly" is not standard usage)– herissonFeb 25, 2017 at 7:16
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5 Answers
I reject your premise that the word year starts with a phonetic sound of e. Here's how it is pronounced according to the various dictionaries:
- Wiktionary: (RP) IPA: /jiə/, /jɜː/, SAMPA: /ji@/, /j3:/; (US) enPR: yîr, IPA: /jiɹ/, SAMPA: /jir/
- Merriam-Webster: \ˈyir\
- American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: /yîr/
- Collins English Dictionary: /jɪə/
Words that start with the /j/ sound are preceded by an a, not by an an. Compare: a user, a utility, a yak.
answered Feb 14, 2011 at 9:05
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I'm a non-native English speaker; I put "year, year, ear, ear!" on Google translate and listened to it to compare the sounds; the "y" sounded just like a shorter "e" added to the "e" on "ear". I pronounced it the way I heard it and didn't perceive any moving muscles in my mouth; it felt like just adding extra air on the transition from "y" to "e". It's interesting to learn that this very nuanced difference is not perceived as a phonetic sound of the vowel "e"!– RicardoOct 6, 2023 at 17:05
It doesn't start with a phonetic sound of e. It starts with [j] (usually spelled "y" in English), and that sound is not a vowel here.
Dictionary.com: Year: /yɪər/
Dictionary.msn.com: Year: /yeer/
answered Feb 14, 2011 at 9:04
A year does not start with an e sound. An ear starts with an e sound.
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1Is it easy to distinguish between them when people talk about "year" and "ear" at the same time? Could people easily distinguish the sounds of |O| and |WO|, |U| and |WU| as well?– Terry LiOct 20, 2011 at 17:01
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2Yes, native speakers easily distinguish between ear and year, or owe and woe, or ooh and woo. Apr 30, 2012 at 12:53
An ear
and
A year
In most cases.
A good rule is
If the next word starts with a vowel sound, use an. If not, use a
For the word 'year' to be preceded by 'an' it must sound like it's beginning with a vowel. The reason why it is a tad tricky is because of the difference in the way people pronounce it.
Some people pronounce the word 'year' as 'ear' with 'y' silent, thereby wanting 'an' to precede and feeling discomfort with 'a'. e.g. 'It's been an _ear since we talked'.
Whereas others pronounce it with a 'ye' sound in the beginning. In this case one finds that using 'a' suddenly sounds more comfortable. e.g. 'It's been a 'ye'ar since we talked'.
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