I codirect a artificial intelligence applications

[GoodTaste]

Timothy Poterucha: My name is Tim Poterucha. I’m a cardiologist and clinical researcher at Columbia University. I codirect a artificial intelligence applications in cardiology research laboratory here at Columbia, where we study how we can use AI technologies in order to do a better job of taking care of patients with heart disease.

Source: New England Journal of Medicine

Is it acceptable in dialogue using "a", rather than "an", before a vowel? Or is such misuse of "a" common in English chat or conversation?

The editor here somehow letted "a artificial intelligence" slip through without editing it into "an artificial intelligence".

 

[Tarheel]

It should be:

I codirect artificial intelligence applications.

 

[Barque]

Is it acceptable in dialogue using "a", rather than "an", before a vowel? Or is such misuse of "a" common in English chat or conversation?

It's probably just a typo. Or the speaker made a slip of the tongue and it was reported as it is.

The editor here somehow letted

The past tense form of "let" is "let", not "letted".

 

[jutfrank]

It isn't a typo and it isn't a slip of the tongue. You can hear exactly what he says at 00:17.

What strikes me about this is the grammar:

1) Why does he use an indefinite article before the plural noun applications?
2) Why doesn't he use one for laboratory?

I think what he's saying is that he codirects a artificial intelligence applications in cardiology research laboratory, where the whole of the red bit is modifying laboratory.

By the way, the use of 'a' before a word starting with a vowel is very common and natural in speech. It's especially common when the speaker needs to pause very slightly before continuing, as is what happens here. Remember that the text you posted is a transcript of the spoken interview. If the text were a piece of writing, it would be wrong.

 

[teechar]

By the way, the use of 'a' before a word starting with a vowel is very common and natural in speech.

It might be common, but is it really that natural? I'm not so sure about that.

It's especially common when the speaker needs to pause very slightly before continuing, as is what happens here.

Wouldn't "an" do just as well?

Remember that the text you posted is a transcript of the spoken interview.

OK, but he is talking about his job. It's not something that he had to think of on the spur of the moment. I can't imagine him saying "a artificial" frequently.

If the text were a piece of writing, it would be wrong.

Yes!

 

[Tarheel]

In the South phrases such as "a apple" and "a orange" a pretty common.

 

[jutfrank]

It might be common, but is it really that natural?

Yes, I'd say it's quite natural, in the sense that it's something that native speakers naturally do.

Often (as I think is the case here) it's just a result of the speaker not having a clear plan of the following noun phrase, where the link between article and noun is broken due to a pause in speech. Other times, it seems to be that it's characteristic of the particular speaker's way of speaking. Other times it may be associated with a certain dialect.

Wouldn't "an" do just as well?

Yes, but not if the speaker doesn't know what the next word is for that split second.

OK, but he is talking about his job. It's not something that he had to think of on the spur of the moment.

What he says does flummox me, actually. My suspicion is that he uses 'a' because the modifier that comes next (artificial intelligence applications in cardiology research) is complex and awkward and creates a long distance between the article and the head noun (laboratory) that it's determining. So he says 'a' without having a fully clear idea of what comes next. Either that or he breaks the link between the article and the modifier intentionally, for the benefit of the listener, pre-empting that it will be hard to parse. I'm not sure.

I wonder what you think? Why does he say 'a' instead of 'an'? Don't you agree with my grammatical analysis from post #4?

 

[teechar]

Don't you agree with my grammatical analysis from post #4?

I do.

I wonder what you think? Why does he say 'a' instead of 'an'?

It's possible that he simply made a mistake, or because it's just bad English. It's also possible that he belongs to the cohort of native English speakers who use "a" where "an" should be used (I reiterate: bad English!).

 

[jutfrank]

It's also possible that he belongs to the cohort of native English speakers who use "a" where "an" should be used (I reiterate: bad English!).

A prescriptivist approach!

Since there's another relevant open thread on the subject of descriptivism/prescriptivism, I think I should make it clear what my approaches to language use are, and it would be interesting and useful if other members do the same.

For me, teachers are primarily prescriptivists, especially for lower level students. Generally speaking, what teachers do is tell people what to say. That's the main goal of this very website, as far as I'm concerned, and it's a large part of what we do on the forum every day. However, if we're talking about native speakers' use of language, then it's rare that I wouldn't take a descriptivist approach. What linguists and lexicographers do is tell people what other people do. Language teachers are not linguists and linguists are not language teachers.

 

[5jj]

Language teachers are not linguists and linguists are not language teachers.

Some are both.

 

[jutfrank]

Not at the same time.