Birmingham.
_"An" before "u" long._--I should be much obliged to any of my
fellow-students of "N. & Q." who would answer the following Query: What
is the reason of the increasingly prevailing custom of writing _an_
before words beginning with _u_ long, or with diphthongs having the sound
of _u_ long? Surely a written language is perfect in proportion as it
represents the spoken tongue; if so, this is one of the many instances
in which modern fashions are making English orthography still more
inconsistent than it was wont to be. It appears to me just as reasonable
to say "_an youthful_ (pronounced _yoothful_) person," as "_an useful_
(pronounced _yooseful_) person."
If there is a satisfactory reason for the practice, I shall be delighted
to be corrected but, if not, I would fain see the fashion "nipped in the
bud."