How old is the letter A?
The letter A is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph—a western Semitic word referring to the aforementioned beast of burden. Aleph can be traced back to the Middle Bronze Age and the Proto-Sinaitic script found in parts of Egypt and Canaan from around 1850 BCE (Before the Common Era).
Why are there two lowercase A's?
“The TL;DR is that it's basically a historical accident: There were loads of variations of the letter 'a' and one became standard in printing while a less fancy one became standard in handwriting, presumably because people are lazy when they have to do things by hand,” writes Reddit user F0sh.
What language has æ?
Æ (lowercase: æ) is a character formed from the letters a and e, originally a ligature representing the Latin diphthong ae. It has been promoted to the status of a letter in some languages, including Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, and Faroese. It was also used in Old Swedish before being changed to ä.
Is A letter A symbol?
A letter is a segmental symbol of a phonemic writing system. The inventory of all letters forms an alphabet. Letters broadly correspond to phonemes in the spoken form of the language, although there is rarely a consistent and exact correspondence between letters and phonemes.
What is the fancy G called?
It's like the G in the Arial font, and the researchers call this one “opentail.” The other one, called “looptail,” is the kind you see in a font like Times New Roman: two circles, connected by a line on the left side.
What's the hardest letter to write?
Why Lowercase G Is the Alphabet's Hardest Letter to Write | Time.
What is the Ü symbol called?
U-umlautU-umlaut. A glyph, U with umlaut, appears in the German alphabet. It represents the umlauted form of u, which results in [yː] when long and [ʏ] when short. The letter is collated together with U, or as UE.
What language uses Ü?
Pronouncing the umlaut Ü The last umlaut in the German language is the Ü. Similar to the Ö, there is no sound in the English language which is the equivalent of this umlaut.
What is a called?
Angstrom/circle (å) The symbol Å or å is a letter that appears in the alphabets of some Scandinavian languages, such as Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. In English, this symbol is used to represent the angstrom, a unit of measurement named after Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ångström.
What is the A to Z alphabet?
The English Alphabet consists of 26 letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
Why is the letter a called a?
Its name in English is a (pronounced /ˈeɪ/), plural aes. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar.
What is the 27th letter in the alphabet?
The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram &, representing the conjunction "and". It originated as a ligature of the letters et—Latin for "and".
Why are there two lower sigma?
You use -σ in any case you need a non capital /s/ and -ς τελικό ( Teliko) only at the ending is a word. That's why that sigma is called teliko which means last in Greek. Do it make sense? σ is the standard lowercase sigma and ς is only used at the very end of a word.
How do you write your A's?
To answer your question simply: The proper (or at least normal) way to write "a" in handwriting is to write it "ɑ" without the arc above the loop. The two ways to write lower-case a are called double-storey A (a) and single-storey A (ɑ). Single-storey is used for italics in most fonts.
How many types of A are there?
The lowercase version can be written in 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 in italic type.
How do people write lowercase A?
0:003:441. Writing the lowercase a - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo you just flick. So we'll do that again put a little dot. Here. Go up around back down to the lineMoreSo you just flick. So we'll do that again put a little dot. Here. Go up around back down to the line.
What is the initial of azole?
perhaps from -a- in ring compounds such as thiazole (in which -a- is the initial of azole)
What does "h" mean in the dictionary?
h —used before the name of a person (such as a famous artist) when the name is being used to refer to something (such as a painting) created by that person Her violin is a Stradivarius. i —used before a family name to show that someone is a member of that family To be a Kennedy is to lead two lives …. — Margaret Carlson.
What does "I" mean before a family name?
i —used before a family name to show that someone is a member of that family To be a Kennedy is to lead two lives … — Margaret Carlson
What does "a" mean in a sentence?
any spoken sound represented by the letter A or a, as in bake, hat, father, or small.
What is a reduced, unstressed form of auxiliary?
a reduced, unstressed form of auxiliary have following some modals, as might, should, could, would, and must (usually written as part of a single, unhyphenated word): We shoulda gone.
What is the word before a consonant sound?
Before a consonant sound, a is used; before a vowel sound, an : a book, a rose; an apple, an opera. Problems arise occasionally when the following word begins with a vowel letter but actually starts with a consonant sound, or vice versa.
What does "grade" mean in music?
the first in order or in a series. Sometimes a . (in some grading systems) a grade or mark, as in school or college, indicating the quality of a student's work as excellent or superior. (in some school systems) a symbol designating the first semester of a school year. Music.
What is the first letter of the English alphabet?
the first letter of the English alphabet, a vowel. any spoken sound represented by the letter A or a, as in bake, hat, father, or small. a written or printed representation of the letter A or a. a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter A or a.
What is the meaning of "a major blood group"?
a major blood group, usually enabling a person whose blood is of this type to donate blood to persons of group A or AB and to receive blood from persons of O or A.Compare ABO system.
What does "indefinitely" mean?
indefinitely or nonspecifically (used with adjectives expressing number): a great many years; a few stars.
What type of letter is A?
Typographic variants. Different glyphs of the lowercase letter A. 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 "permanent" media.
What does capital A mean in geometry?
are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc. A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A.
What is the Roman form?
The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it ("a"). Both derive from the majuscule (capital) form. 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.
What is the first letter of the alphabet?
t. e. A, or a , is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is a (pronounced / ˈeɪ / ), plural aes. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives.
Who invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z?
Moreover, in 1637, René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c", and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra. In geometry, capital A, B, C etc. are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc.
What is italic script?
The Italic form, also called script a, is used in most current handwriting and consists of a circle and vertical stroke.
What does "a" mean in the dictionary?
Not to be confused with Å (disambiguation). Look up A in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to:
Who is the author of A?
Books. "A", a major poem by twentieth century author Louis Zukofsky. a, A Novel, by twentieth century artist Andy Warhol. A, the name of the Fourth Raikage, the leader of Kumogakure in the Naruto manga series. A ( Pretty Little Liars), the main antagonist in the Pretty Little Liars book and TV series.
What is the romanized name of the Hiragana syllable?
A (cuneiform), the romanized name of a cuneiform sign. A (Cyrillic) (A or а), the first letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. A (kana) (or a), the romanized name of the Hiragana syllable letter あ and of the Katakana syllable letter ア used in Japanese, which may also be used to represent Asia.
What is a Ford Model A?
Ford Model A, a name used by two separate cars produced by the Ford Motor Company: Ford Model A (1903–04) Ford Model A (1927–31) Geometry A, an electric mid-size sedan by Geely Auto.
What is the name of the TV show with the character A?
A, the main antagonist and unknown character of the show Pretty Little Liars. "A" ( The Walking Dead), an episode of the television series The Walking Dead. A, code name of Ange, the main protagonist of the anime show Princess Principal.
What is the name of the short film about a Buddhist sect called?
A (1998 Kannada film), an Indian movie directed by Upendra. A (1998 Japanese film), a documentary film about a Buddhist sect called "A". A (2002 film), a British documentary film.
What is the symbol for Mills' constant?
Universal affirmative, one of the four types of categorical proposition in logic. Mills' constant is represented by the symbol A . Glaisher–Kinkelin constant is also often represented by the symbol A.
Overview
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Its name in English is a , plural aes. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey ɑ. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts base…
History
The earliest certain ancestor of "A" is aleph (also written 'aleph), the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants (for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet). In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two …
Use in writing systems
In modern English orthography, the letter ⟨a⟩ represents at least seven different vowel sounds:
• the near-open front unrounded vowel /æ/ as in pad;
• the open back unrounded vowel /ɑː/ as in father, which is closer to its original Latin and Greek sound;
Other uses
In algebra, the letter a along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote a variable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics. Moreover, in 1637, René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c", and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra.
Related characters
• Æ æ : Latin AE ligature
• A with diacritics: Å å Ǻ ǻ Ḁ ḁ ẚ Ă ă Ặ ặ Ắ ắ Ằ ằ Ẳ ẳ Ẵ ẵ Ȃ ȃ Â â Ậ ậ Ấ ấ Ầ ầ Ẫ ẫ Ẩ ẩ Ả ả Ǎ ǎ Ⱥ ⱥ Ȧ ȧ Ǡ ǡ Ạ ạ Ä ä Ǟ ǟ À à Ȁ ȁ Á á Ā ā Ā̀ ā̀ Ã ã Ą ą Ą́ ą́ Ą̃ ą̃ A̲ a̲ ᶏ
• Phonetic alphabet symbols related to A (the International Phonetic Alphabet only uses lowercase, but uppercase forms are used in some other writing systems):
Use as a number
In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, A is a number that corresponds to the number 10 in decimal (base 10) counting.
External links
• History of the Alphabet
• Texts on Wikisource: