A

A, THE first letter of the alphabet, in all the known languages of the world, that of Ethiopia excepted, in which it is the 13^th. It has deservedly the first place in the alphabet, on account of its simplicity, very little more being necessary to its pronunciation than opening the mouth.

In the English language A is the mark of three different sounds, termed, by our grammarians, the broad, the open, and the slender A. The first resembles that of the German A, is found in several monosyllables, as wall, salt, &c. and is pronounced as an in cause. It is probable that the Saxons expressed only this broad sound of the letter, as it is still commonly retained in the northern districts of England, and universally throughout Scotland; as, tauk for talk, ewauk for walk or wake.—The open A resembles that of the Italians in adagio, and is the same with that of a in father, rather, &c. The slender sound is peculiar to the English language, and resembles the sound of the French diphthong ai in pair, or their a masculine, or perhaps it is a middle sound between them: it is exemplified in place, waste, &c. also in toleration, justification, and all other words ending with ation.

A is sometimes added after words in burlesque poetry; in which case it only makes an additional syllable without any alteration of the sense, as the interjection O very often does in our ballads. It is also sometimes redundant, as in the words arise, awake, &c. which are not different in signification from rise, wake, &c.

It is sometimes a word, either noun or interjection; in which last case it is commonly an expression of grief, and joined with the aspirate, as ah! When a noun, it is only with respect to itself; as great A, little a, &c.

A is very frequently used as an article; in which case it has no plural signification, and is used to denote the number one, as a house, a field, &c. When placed as an article before any of the vowels, y and w only excepted, it is joined with the letter n; as, an island, an orator, &c.—In the three following cases it is a preposition. 1. When it goes before a participle, or noun derived from a participle; as, I am a doing this or that. 2. When used before local surnames, as Cornelius a Lapide, Thomas a Kempis, &c. 3. When it is used in composition; as, a foot, a sleep, &c. In some instances it denotes the proportion of one thing to another; as, so much a week, a man, a head, &c.

A, among the ancients, was a numeral letter, and

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signified 500; and when a dash was added on the top, A, 5000.

A, in the Julian calendar, is the first of the seven DOMINICAL letters. It had been in use among the Romans long before the establishment of Christianity, as the first of the eight mundinales litteræ; in imitation whereof it was that the dominical letters were first introduced.

A is also an abbreviation used with different intentions. Hence,

A, among logicians, is used to denote an universal affirmative proposition; according to the verse,

Afferat A, negat B, verum generaliter ambe.

Thus, in the first figure, a syllogism consisting of three universal affirmative propositions, is said to be in Bār-bā-rā; the A thrice repeated, denoting so many of the propositions to be universal, &c. See BARBARA.

A, among the Romans, was used in the giving of votes or suffrages.—When a new law was proposed, each voter had two wooden ballots put in his hand; the one marked with a capital A, signifying antiquus, q. d. antiquam volo; and the other with V. R. for ut rogar. Such as were against the law, cast the first into the urn; as who should say, I refuse it, I antiquate it; or, I like the ancient law, and desire no innovation.

A, in the trials of criminal causes, also denoted absolution; whence Cicero, pro Milone, calls A, littera salutaris, a saving letter.—Three ballots were distributed to each judge, marked with the letters, A for absolvo, I acquit; C for condemno, I condemn; and N. L. for non liquet, It is not clear. From the number of each cast into the urn, the prætor pronounced the prisoner's fate. If they were equal in number, he was absolved.

A, in the ancient inscriptions of marbles, &c. occasionally stands for Augustus, ager, aiunt, &c. When double, it denotes Augusti; when triple, aurum, argentum, as; and sometimes its meaning can only be known by the rest of the inscription. Isidore adds, that when it occurs after the word miles (soldier), it denotes him young. On the reverse of ancient medals, it denotes them struck by the city of Argos, sometimes by that of Athens; but on coins of modern date, it is the mark of Paris.

A, as an abbreviation, is also often found in modern writers: as, A. D. for anno Domini; A. M. artium magister, master of arts, &c.

A, the letter a, with a line above it thus, ā, is used

A

in

in medical prescriptions for ana, of each; sometimes it is written thus, āā: e. g. B. Mel. Sacchar. & Mann. ā, vel āā, āj. i. e. Take of honey, sugar, and manna, of each one ounce.

A, put to bills of exchange, is in England an abbreviation for accepted, and in France for accepté. It is likewise usual among merchants to mark their sets of books with the letters A, B, C, &c. instead of the numbers 1, 2, 3, &c.

A. A. A. The chemical abbreviation for Amalgama, or Amalgamation.

AA, the name of several rivers in Germany and Switzerland.