The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/A
A The first letter of every alphabet except the old German or Runic and the Ethiopian: the “futhark” of the former places it fourth, the latter makes it thirteenth. As all alphabets ultimately come through the Phœnician (witness the name itself), this arrangement is natural. Our own is inherited from the Latin, which was derived from the Greek; and the latter in its alpha confirms its traditional derivation from the Phœnician where and in Hebrew it is called aleph, Aramaic alph. The name is said to have meant “ox,” and so strongly resembles the root-element of elephant that there is little doubt the original meaning of both was the same. Hence formerly the shape of the lower-case a was derived by some from the rough outline of an ox-head with its horns; but in fact, as evidenced by a comparison of the gradual evolution of forms, the small letters in all cases are derived from the capitals, and the Greek capital Α (see table under Alphabet) in its original shape was a somewhat more cursive form of the Phœnician aleph which itself was a conventionalized form of the Egyptian hieratic, and that in turn (the final step backward) was conventionalized from the picture of an ibis in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics or ideographs.
The sound of the letter has varied little more than the form – perhaps less – except in modern English, which owing to its composite character has made it a symbol of so many different vowel-sounds as to be well-nigh meaningless. Yet even here most of them have never quite lost the connection with the earlier vocal efforts it stood for, and their fluctuations are fixed by the character of the vocal opening. The Phœnician sound represented by the letter aleph cannot have corresponded to the Greek alpha or any of its derivatives, as the former alphabet assumed that all syllables began with consonants, and aleph was in some sort consonantal; but the Greeks made it a pure vowel, the so-called “Continental” or broad a as in “ah.” This is the simplest and most fundamental of all vowel-sounds, the earliest uttered by infants,– whence many grotesque theories of its divine origin and the reasons for its position,– since it results from opening the throat and mouth wide and emitting the tone from the larynx, with the least friction or interference possible from the other organs; and it is still the most general on the Continent of Europe. But even there it has been largely flattened by the French into the short sound as in “at”; at the end of words in all languages the dropping of the voice tends to slur it toward the sound of u in “but,” which in English it quite attains; and with us it has become the representative of nine distinct sounds, seven of them each recognizably developed from one of the others, and all from the parent sound, while two are of a different order yet still explicable. The usual arrangement (“fate, fat, far, fall,” etc.) is entirely misleading, as it obliterates this evolution which the following makes clear:
(1) ah, explained above.
(2) all, a closer sound than (1), formed by drawing back the tongue, compressing the sides of the throat, and speaking more toward the diaphragm. In general utterance this is perhaps the first change from ah. It is almost universal among the Hindu and Persian masses (“ghaut” for ghät, etc.), and was very common in England and America in the 18th century: witness pronunciations like “spaw” for “spa”; the curious aberrant “vawz” for “vahz” which has more curiously become accepted as a sort of social touchstone in a small group; family names like Raleigh, Decatur, Tabey, etc., in American pronunciation.
(3) was, what. The same pronounced still deeper in the diaphragm, and cut short instead of prolonged.
(4) oval. This is the “neutral” sound, corresponding to “short u”; used in Western languages only only in unaccented syllables, and made by lazily opening the organs as little as possible and putting no stress on the expiration of the breath. It is the closest of the vowel-sounds, and the most diaphragmal, and therefore seemingly the antithesis of “broad a”; it has in truth no special relation to that more than to e and o (“silent,” “apron”), but is the common weakened form of all. In Hindu speech it is used stressed, as in the familiar “Juggernaut” (Jaganath), “Buckergunge” (Bakarganj), etc.
(5) bare. A more open sound than (1), formed in precisely the same manner as (2) except by expanding instead of contracting the throat.
(6) at. Identical with (5) except being cut short instead of prolonged; in fact, its short sound.
(7) ask. Always a different sound from the others, but no always the same in itself. With the less cultivated speakers it is nearly identical with (5), even with (6). With others, anxious to avoid the flatness and exaggerating in the opposite direction, it is made identical with (1). With the majority of good speakers it is akin to (1), but shorter and more diaphragmal, and with the organs rather closer together.
(8) any, many. This is not one of the group of a-sounds, but is “short e.” The change was caused by assimilation of the a-sound to the i-sound of the closing letter.
(9) ate. This, in usual order the first given, considering the typical English a-sound, and actually furnishing the pronunciation if that letter in its alphabetical position, is not merely not an a-sound at all, but not even a simple vowel-sound being nearly ĕĭ, sliding quickly from a closer and more diaphragmal “short e” to a vanishing sound of “short i.” As in (8), the cause appears to have been originally assimilation with a final vowel (the sonant e now so often silent but “lengthening” the a before it), and afterwards extended to words where this could not act.
A, in general, the first term of any series.
In music the first note of the scale of A, major minor; and A minor is the relative (or related) minor of (or belonging to) C major; the Continental la. The open second string of the violin sounds it, and the instruments of an orchestra are all tuned to it. As a fixed tone a′ (435 vibrations) is the standard by which all instruments are tuned. In theoretical works A denotes the triad of A major and a the triad of A minor. In the score of works requiring more than one performer the letter of the alphabet are used as guides, to help find the places readily in case of repetition.
In logic, the universal affirmative (“all trade is barter”), distinguished from the particular affirmative (“some trade is barter”). See Logic.
In algebra, the first letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, etc., are used to denote known quantities, while the last, down to z, denote the unknown,– a and x being used first in all cases, the others being added according to need.
In geometry and mechanical diagrams, the capitals A, B, C, etc., are used to mark off points, lines, angles, and figures; in complicated diagrams, often supplemented by the small letters and accented, to indicate the closer relations of parts.
As an abbreviation, see Abbreviations.
As an adjective or attributive, shaped like the letter A; as an A tent.
Consult Petrie, W. M. F., ‘The Formation of the Alphabet’ (1912); Rippmann, ‘Sounds of Spoken English’ (London 1910); Stucken, ‘Das Alphabet und die Mundstationen’ (1913); Sweet, ‘History of English Sounds’ (Oxford 1908); Taylor, I., ‘The Alphabet’ (London 1883).
A is also the first of the Dominical Letters.
A, word. (1) The form of “an” used before consonants. (2) Broken-down form of “on,” or ellipsis of “for a” (“twice a day”). (3) Old form of “ah,” as a war-cry (“A Douglas!”).
A1, ä-one′ (colloquially, “first-class”), the mark for the highest-grade wooden vessels in Lloyd's (q. v.) ‘Register of Shipping.’ A refers to hull, 1 to rigging and equipment. This rank is assigned by Lloyd's, surveyors to new ships for a term of years prefixed to the symbol, as 10A1, dependent on quality of materials and mode of building; but to retain it they must be periodically resurveyed, and it fit are granted continuation for one to eight years, marked 10A1 Cont. 5A1, etc. A in red means over-age, but still fit for any voyages which perishable goods can endure; Æ, in black, fit for short trips with similar goods. In all cases the 1 is omitted if rigging, etc., are inferior. Iron and steel vessels have a Gothic A preceded by numerals from 100 down, 100A to 90A resurveyed once in four years, 85A and below once in three; rigging, etc., marked same as on wooden ships. In the German Lloyd's A1 and A are the two best grades of wooden ships; B1, B, CL, CK, lower ones; iron and steel ships are marked as in the English classification, but with the resurvey marked under the A.
Aa, ä (“water”: a general Indo-European word in various shapes,– Ger. ach or aach in Aachen, Biberach, etc.; Lat. aqua, pl. aquæ, whence O. F. Aigues, Mod. F. Aix, in compounds; etc.), the name of some forty streams in northern and central Europe: among the chief, a French river rising in dept. Pas-de-Calais, flowing into dept. Nord, and reaching the Strait of Dover at Gravelines; about 50 miles long, navigable below St. Omer, and connected with Calais and Dunkirk by canals.
Aa, geologically, a Hawaiian term much in use to describe lava flows with rough, cindery surfaces.