A Moogle Bouqet, struck down by the indefinite article.

Rychyld teaches us that:

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The pearl clover blossoms you grew are very dear to the moogles. From them, they derive all manner of things─their favorite food, an herbal remedy, a musical instrument, their bedding. Some say they even use them to induce the visions and trances that fuel their magic.

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"H" is not a vowel, nor is it a silent letter. ;)

Isnt the H silent in herbal?

At least where I live we pronounce it with the H silent, such as ER-bull. I don't know anyone that says HERB-all. We could just be weird out here in Washington though. That being the case, an sounds correct to me and a does not.

Herbal with an audible H is pretty common outside the US. Being an American, I would say "an herbal".

That's odd, because whenever I think of the concept of "an erbal" I think of a powerful French accent...

Must be the Australian in me?

Either way, Fernhawles or Eemeefu may need to play magistrate on this one.

Whether you use the "a" or "an" article depends solely on whether you pronounce the "h" before the vowel. You'd use an for words like heir and hour for example. But in this case, there is a dialectal difference. I've heard proper British English pronounces the word herb with the "H" sound so they would grammatically use the article "a". However, in North America, it's commonly pronounced without the "H" sound as in "erb" so they would use the article "an" as in "an herb". So it's safe to say that Rychyl is one of the fellows that speaks about his herbs without the H's.

{/says outloud} "Kind sire, I will have an herbal tea, and gysahl greens for my chocob-"

Hm. I guess when you're not British there is an 'an' before it. This takes me back to Eddie Izzad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs5H7cgcpkg

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Originally Posted by Catapult

"H" is not a vowel, nor is it a silent letter. ;)

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Aaactually... As a few other posters stated, both are accepted pronunciations. The word comes from the Old French erbe, and though the spelling was changed to reflect the Latin herbe in the 1600s, the h remained muted up until the 1800s. And now, while "erb" remains the primary pronunciation in American English and "herb" the secondary, the opposite is true in British English.

Anyway, the "an" preceding "herbal" here is completely intentional, as the muted-h pronunciation is the one we've decided to go with in-game.

How's that for a honest answer? :eek:

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Originally Posted by Eemeefu

Aaactually... As a few other posters stated, both are accepted pronunciations. The word come from the Old French erbe, and though the spelling was changed to reflect the Latin herbe in the 1600s, the h remained muted up until the 1800s. And now, while "erb" remains the primary pronunciation in American English and "herb" the secondary, the opposite is true in British English.

Anyway, the "an" preceding "herbal" here is completely intentional, as the muted-h pronunciation is the one we've decided to go with in-game.

How's that for a honest answer? :eek:

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Owww. . .

/10chars

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Originally Posted by Eemeefu

Aaactually... As a few other posters stated, both are accepted pronunciations. The word come from the Old French erbe, and though the spelling was changed to reflect the Latin herbe in the 1600s, the h remained muted up until the 1800s. And now, while "erb" remains the primary pronunciation in American English and "herb" the secondary, the opposite is true in British English.

Anyway, the "an" preceding "herbal" here is completely intentional, as the muted-h pronunciation is the one we've decided to go with in-game.

How's that for a honest answer? :eek:

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A very good and complete one. I'll also be sure to inform my medieval re-enactment friends on the matter.

/bow

I was going to say "an honorable" is another acceptable example... You're killing me, smalls.