CHAPTER II.
OF THE ARTICLES.
The Articles in English are two, a and the; a becomes an before a vowel, and before an h which is not sounded: as, an exquisite, an hour-glass. But if the h be pronounced, the a only is used: as, a homicide, a homœpathist, a hum.
A or an is called the indefinite article, because it is used, in a vague sense, to point out some one thing belonging to a certain kind, but in other respects indeterminate; as,
"A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!"
So say grammarians. Eating-house keepers tell a different story. A cheese, in common discourse, means an object of a certain shape, size, weight, and so on, entire and perfect; so that to call half a cheese a cheese, would constitute a flaw in an indictment against a thief who had stolen one. But a waiter will term a fraction, or a modicum of cheese, a cheese; a platefull of pudding, a pudding; and a stick of celery, a salary. Here we are reminded of the famous exclamation of one of these gentry:—"Sir! there's two teas and a brandy-and-water just sloped without paying!"
The is termed the definite article, inasmuch as it denotes what particular thing or things are meant as,
"The miller he stole corn,
The weaver he stole yarn,
And the little tailor he stole broad-cloth
To keep the three rogues warm."
A substantive to which no article is prefixed is taken
