Why do they do this?

[Kathyan]

News readers and commentators using a long 'ayyy' instead of a and 'thee' instead of the. I was always taught that unless the following word began with a vowel a or the was used. Now we get ayyy and thee preceding words that begin with a consonant and it really annoys me.

[Gromit]

It wouldn't be so bad if it was consistant, but they often use 'the' and 'thee' in the same sentence. They are all over the place with it.

[jno]

just clarity of diction, I expect, which (as my hearing fades) can only be a good thing. We don't all have 20/20 ears.

[Maydup]

Irritating I agree, its very poor diction.

You'd never say theee government but you would say thee end.

However I'm not so sure about a and ayyy myself as we use an before a vowel don't we?

[Kathyan]

Yes, you are right maidup! It would be an before a vowel!

[factor-fiction]

It can also be AN before an H sometimes- e.g. an hotel

[Maydup]

Its definately ayyy hot air balloon, not a or an - what's the rule?

[factor-fiction]

Here's one article. I'm not sure how reliable it is as I haven't read it all yet.

Before some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) h in an unstressed first syllable, such as hallucination, hilarious, historic(al), horrendous, and horrific, some (especially older) British writers prefer to use an over a (an historical event, etc.).[3] An is also preferred before hotel by some writers of British English (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word from French, where the h is not pronounced).[4] The use of "an" before words beginning with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in British English than American.[4] American writers normally use a in all these cases, although there are occasional uses of an historic(al) in American English.[5] According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English, such use is increasingly rare in British English too.[3] Unlike British English, American English typically uses an before herb, since the h in this word is silent for most Americans.

[factor-fiction]

"An historic victory" is said quite often on the nes

[factor-fiction]

... and on the NEWS as well!

[Quizmonster]

Maidup, as regards an + h...
‘An hotel', with the ‘h' silent, is perfectly correct, though somewhat dated nowadays. However, British people of a certain class and age do still use it...it's as simple as that.
It is optional whether or not to pronounce the opening ‘h' in words in which the first syllable is unstressed...eg habitual, horrendous, hotel, historian, horrific etc and therefore whether 'a' or 'an' is used before it. The five words just listed commonly have ‘an' before them.
It is probably the lack of opening stress rather than any French provenance - as some claim - that matters, although opening letters ‘h' in French itself are not spoken . Hackney, hearse, homage and hostage all came to us from French, too, but I do not know of any evidence that British people - other than Cockneys etc - ever said 'ackney, 'earse, 'omage or 'ostage. It is probably because of such words that the relevance of French pronunciation has been doubted as regards the 'an (h)otel' usage.
Much more significant surely is the fact that all four of these words - hackney, hearse, homage and hostage - open with a stressed syllable which the other four - hotel, habitual, historian and horrific - do not. It seems most probable, therefore, that stress-pattern is more important than French origin in this matter. Fowler's Modern English Usage does not even mention a French factor here, though it does indicate the relevance of the unstressed opening.
...cont)

[Quizmonster]

(cont...
The Americans have an example which we do not, in that they pronounce ‘herb' as if there were no ‘h' present. Thus, they refer to ‘an (h)erb' just as we say: ‘an (h)our'.
I'm sure all of us of a certain age will recall the judicial voice-over to the opening credits of Ronnie Barker's Porridge..."Norman Stanley Fletcher....you are an (h)abitual criminal who accepts arrest as an occupational hazard and presumably accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner...." (Note, hazard and not azard!)

For all the above, though, it has to be said that Mark Twain once wrote: "As soon as the Jubilee was over we went to what is called in England ‘an hotel'. If we could have afforded an horse and an hackney cab we could have had an heavenly time flitting around." Someone should really have asked him about ‘erbs!

[Maydup]

Great stuff there thanks all.

Now for the rule on saying a or ayyy....anyone?

[Kathyan]

It's not really the fact of what is right or wrong regarding a or ayy that annoys me, it's more the fact that they say the longer version when it isn't necessary! The weather man has just said ' ayyy very wet evening' when it should be 'a very wet evening'.

[coccinelle]

The only reason anybody would need to say ayyyy is if they were wanting to accentuate the word. A is too short to accentuate so needs to be dragged.

[gingejbee]

Since this whole thread is about correcting mistakes- may I say that it's definitely "definitely"?

[MarkRae]

Pronunciation is much more difficult to dictate than spelling and grammar. Mostly if it's not a regional thing then it's just what feels more natural to the speaker. The classic example is the 'a' vowel in words like 'bath' and 'castle' which some people pronounce as if it rhymes with 'map' and others as if it rhymes with 'car'.

'The' is pronounced as if rhymes with 'tea' when it precedes a vowel - on that, I think, everybody is agreed.

However, I'm with the OP (and others) on 'ay' - I can't imagine ever saying 'ay hot air balloon'.

[jake-the-peg]

There isn't a rule that defines "proper usage"

Proper usage is a myth - "the rules" document what is in common usage and that changes.

Thats why we have "Fowler's common usage" and not "Fowlers correct usage"

An Unicorn anybody?

[Quizmonster]

If an opening letter 'u' is one pronounced 'you', it is never preceded by 'an'. Thus we never say 'an university' or 'an uniform' or 'an union' any more than we say 'an unicorn'. On the other hand, if the opening 'u' is pronounced like the 'u' in 'but', the word 'an' IS used, as in 'an unusual request', 'an uneducated man' or 'an upper class school'.

[rojash]

Exactly, QM. Many people don't seem to realise that the "a/an" and "the/thee" rule applies not to vowel letters, but to vowel sounds.

These mistakes can be compounded by automatic spell/grammar checkers which cannot distinguish between (for example) the letter R (which begins with a vowel sound) as in RAF (AR AY EF) and the r sound which is a consonant (as in riff-raff).