This article is about the Latin letter. For the similar Greek letter, seeAlpha. For the similar Cyrillic letter, seeA (Cyrillic). For the indefinite article, seea and an. For other uses, seeA (disambiguation).
It is similar in shape to theAncient Greek letteralpha, from which it derives.[3] Theuppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey|a| and single-storey|ɑ|. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found initalic type.
Name
In English, the name of the letter is thelong A sound, pronounced/ˈeɪ/. Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation inopen syllables.
When theancient Greeks adopted the alphabet, they had no use for a letter representing aglottal stop—so they adapted the sign to represent the vowel/a/, calling the letter by the similar namealpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions dating to the 8th century BC following theGreek Dark Ages, the letter rests upon its side. However, in the laterGreek alphabet it generally resembles the modern capital form—though many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle at which the cross line is set.[6]
TheEtruscans brought the Greek alphabet to theItalian Peninsula, and they left the form of alpha unchanged. When the Romans adopted theEtruscan alphabet to writeLatin, the resulting form used in theLatin script would come to be used to write many other languages, including English.
Egyptian
Proto-Sinaitic
Proto-Canaanite
Phoenician
Western Greek
Etruscan
Latin
Typographic variants
Differentglyphs of the lowercase letter⟨a⟩Allographs include a double-storey⟨a⟩ and single-storey⟨ɑ⟩.
During Roman times, there were many variant forms of the letter A. First was the monumental or lapidary style, which was used when inscribing on stone or other more permanent media. There was also acursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing, which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the perishable nature of these surfaces, there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental, but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive, such asmajuscule cursive,minuscule cursive, and semi-cursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the earlysemi-uncial (c. 3rd century), the uncial (c. 4th–8th centuries), and the late semi-uncial (c. 6th–8th centuries).[7]
At the end of theRoman Empire (5th century AD), several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semi-cursive minuscule of Italy, theMerovingian script in France, theVisigothic script in Spain, and theInsular or Anglo-Irish semi-uncial or Anglo-Saxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the ninth century, theCaroline script, which was very similar to the present-day form, was the principal form used in book-making, before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms.[7]
Road sign in Ireland showing the "Latin alpha" form of⟨a⟩ in lower and upper case forms
15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, theItalic andRoman forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form⟨ɑ⟩, also calledscript a, is often used inhandwriting; it consists of a circle with a vertical stroke on its right. In the hands of medieval Irish and English writers, this form gradually developed from a 5th-century form resembling the Greek lettertau⟨τ⟩.[4] The Roman form⟨a⟩ is found in most printed material, and consists of a small loop with an arc over it.[7] Both derive from the majuscule form⟨A⟩. In Greek handwriting, it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these, theserif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form. Graphic designers refer to theItalic andRoman forms assingle-decker a anddouble decker a respectively.
Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest set in Roman type. There are some other cases aside from italic type wherescript a⟨ɑ⟩, also calledLatin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin⟨a⟩, such as in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet.
Pronunciation of the name of the letter⟨a⟩ in European languages./a/ and/aː/ can differ phonetically between[a],[ä],[æ] and[ɑ] depending on the language.
thediphthong/eɪ/ as inace andmajor, usually when⟨a⟩ is followed by one, or occasionally two, consonants and then another vowel letter—this results fromMiddle English lengthening followed by theGreat Vowel Shift
aschwa/ə/ in many unstressed syllables, as inabout,comma,solar
The double⟨aa⟩ sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such asAaron andaardvark.[9] However,⟨a⟩ occurs inmany common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly⟨ai⟩,⟨au⟩,⟨aw⟩,⟨ay⟩,⟨ea⟩ and⟨oa⟩.
⟨a⟩ is the third-most-commonly used letter in English after⟨e⟩ and⟨t⟩, as well as in French; it is the second most common in Spanish, and the most common in Portuguese.⟨a⟩ represents approximately 8.2% of letters as used in English texts;[10] the figure is around 7.6% in French[11] 11.5% in Spanish,[12] and 14.6% in Portuguese.[13]
Other languages
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet,⟨a⟩ denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as/a/,/ä/, or/ɑ/. An exception isSaanich, in which⟨a⟩—and the glyph⟨Á⟩—stands for aclose-mid front unrounded vowel/e/.
When usingbase-16 notation, A or a is the conventional numeral corresponding to the number 10.
Inalgebra, the lettera along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote avariable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics. In 1637,René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c",[14] and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra.
Ingeometry, capital Latin letters are used to denote objects includingline segments,lines, andrays[7] A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in atriangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A.[5]
A is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status: A−, A or A+, the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork; "A grade" for clean restaurants;A-list celebrities,A1 at Lloyd's for shipping, etc. Such associations can have amotivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters.[15]
A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe,[5] or a small cup size in abrassiere.[16]
^Rabinowitz, Harold; Vogel, Suzanne (2009).The manual of scientific style: a guide for authors, editors, and researchers (1st ed.). Amsterdam Burlington, MA: Elsevier/Academic Press. p. 363.ISBN978-0-12-373980-3.
Ciani, Keith D.; Sheldon, Kennon M. (2010). "A Versus F: The Effects of Implicit Letter Priming on Cognitive Performance".British Journal of Educational Psychology.80 (1):99–119.doi:10.1348/000709909X466479.PMID19622200.
Diringer, David (2000). "A". In Bayer, Patricia (ed.).Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. I. Danbury, CT: Grolier.ISBN978-0-717-20133-4.
Gelb, I. J.; Whiting, R. M. (1998). "A". In Ranson, K. Anne (ed.).Academic American Encyclopedia. Vol. I. Danbury, CT: Grolier.ISBN978-0-7172-2068-7.
Hall-Quest, Olga Wilbourne (1997). "A". In Johnston, Bernard (ed.).Collier's Encyclopedia. Vol. I. New York: P. F. Collier.
