$something = "untimely death";

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;

sub indef_article
{
    local $_ = shift;
    my $article;
    if ( /^(e)?u(\w+)/i ) {
        my $e = $1;
        local $_ = $2;
        $article = ( $e or /^(?:nanim|ni(?!n)|[gr][aeu])/i ) ? "a" : "an";
        # assumes y-glide pronunciations for Uruguay, Uganda, etc.
    }
    else {
        $article = ( /^(?:[aeio]|ho(?:ur|nest))/i ) ? "an" : "a";
    }
    return "$article $_";
}

print indef_article( $_ ).$/ for ( @ARGV );