“This indefinite, and, as it may be called, the _euphonic_ article, is said by all our grammarians to be used before a vowel or _h_ mute; but no notice is taken of using _a_ instead of _an_ before what is called a vowel, as, _a useful book_, _a useful ceremony_, _a usurer_, &c.; nor is any mention made of its constant usage before _h_ when it is not mute, if the accent of the word be on the second syllable, as, _an heroic action_, _an historical account_, &c. This want of accuracy arises from a want of analyzing the vowels, and not attending sufficiently to the influence of accent on pronunciation. A proper investigation of the power of the vowels would have informed our grammarians that the letter _u_, when long, is not so properly a vowel as a semi-consonant, and perfectly equivalent to commencing _y_, and that a feeling of this has insensibly influenced the best speakers to prefix _a_ to it in their conversation, while a confused idea of the general rule, arising from an ignorance of the nature of the letters, has generally induced them to prefix _an_ to it in writing. The same observations are applicable to the _h_. The ear alone tells us that, before _heroic_, _historical_, &c., the _an_ ought invariably to be used; but, by not discovering that it is the absence of accent on the _h_ that makes _an_ admissible in these words, we are apt to prefix _an_ to words where the _h_ is sounded, as, _an horse_, _an house_, &c., and thus set our spoken and written language at variance. The article _a_ must be used before all words beginning with a consonant, and before the vowel _u_ when long; and the article _an_ must be used before all words beginning with a vowel, except long _u_; before words beginning with _h_ mute, as, _an hour_, _an heir_, &c.; or before words where the _h_ is not mute, if the accent be on the second syllable, as, _an heroic action_, _an historical account_, &c.” The few words in our language in which the _h_ is mute are _heir_, _herb_, _honest_, _honour_, _hospital_, _hostler_, _hour_, _humble_, _humour_, and their derivatives. _O, or OH._ _Oh_ should be used to express surprise, pain, sorrow, or anxiety. When the interjection is followed by a proper name, or as an exclamation of wishing the _O_ should be employed singly, thus: _O mother dear, Jerusalem!_ _O Lord!_ _O that I might find him._ _ABLE and IBLE._ All English words, without regard to the source from which they have been derived, and those which come from Latin words ending in _abilis_ or French ones in _able_, take the termination _able_ in English, as, _procurable_, _amendable_, _desirable_, _allowable_, _voidable_, _available_, _fordable_, _incontestable_, &c.; but in words from Latin and French words terminating in _ibilis_ or _ible_, then the ending will be _ible_ in English. For instance: _accessible_, _sensible_, _defensible_, _convertible_, &c.