rare. Consequently, the farther we trace back the history of language, the more instances of this vowel do we find; the more nearly, if not entirely, does it become the one starting point from which all vowel-sound is derived.
It is principally to the effort required to keep this sound pure that we must attribute the great corruption of it in all languages, and in none more than our own. In deed, in English, the short a-sound is never heard pure; it is heard in Scotland, e.g., in man, which is quite different from the same word on English lips. We have it, how ever, long in father, &c., though it is not common. It has passed into a great many other sounds, all of which are denoted in a most confusing way by the original symbol, and some by other symbols as well. Thus a denotes—(1.) The English vowel-sound in man, perhaps the most common of all the substitutes, dating from the 17th century. (2.) It appears in want; for this sound o is also employed, as in on. (3.) A more open sound is heard in all (also denoted by au in auk, and aw in awl). (4.) Very commonly it represents the continental e, as in ale (here also we have the symbol ai in ail). (5.) It is found in dare and many similar words, where the sound is really the e of den, prolonged in the utterance; here also ai is sometimes an equivalent, as in air. Then (6) there is a sound which is not that of a either in man or in father, but something between the two. It is heard in such words as ask, pass, grant, &c. All these may be, and often are, pronounced with the sound either of man or of father; still, we do often hear in them a clearly distinguishable intermediate sound, which ought to have a special symbol. Lastly (7), there is the dull sound heard in final unaccentuated syllables, e.g., in the word final itself. It is that to which all unaccentuated syllables tend; but it is also often heard even in monosyllables, where it is represented by every other vowel-symbol in the language, e.g., in her, sir, son, sun. This Protean sound is commonly called the neutral vowel; it occurs in all languages, but perhaps in none so frequently as in English. This great variety of sounds, which are all denoted among us by one symbol, clearly shows the insufficiency of our written alphabet.
As in English, so in Sanskrit, the short ah-sound was lost, and was replaced regularly by the neutral sound. This was regarded by the grammarians as inherent in every consonant, and therefore was only written at the beginning of a word; in fact, it is the smallest amount of vowel-sound requisite to float a consonant. Long a, however, kept its sound pure, and does so still in the vernaculars of India. In Latin the sound was probably pure, both short and long, and it has been preserved so in the Romance languages down to the present day. In Greek there was considerable variation, proved in one case at least by a variation of symbol; in Ionic a commonly passed into η, a symbol which probably denoted the modern Italian open e; but possibly the close e, that is, the English a in ale. On the other hand, it is probable that the Doric a approximated to an o, being sounded as a in our word want; and it is likely that this variation was the πλατειασμός which the grammarians attribute to the Dorians. This is commonly supposed to have been the retention of α where the Ionic had η; but that was not peculiar to the Dorians, being common to all the Greeks except the Ionians. In the north of Europe we find a similar tendency to give to a an o-sound; thus in Norse, aa is sounded as an open o. By a further extension in the north of England, at least in such parts as have been specially exposed to Norwegian influence, au has the sound of o; e.g., law is pronounced lo.
A is frequently used as a prefix in lieu of some fuller form in old English. Thus it stands for the preposition on (O.E. an) in away, again, afoot, asleep; for off in. adown (O.E. of-dune); and seems to be intensive in athirst (O.E. of-thirst). Sometimes, especially with verbs, it represents the old English â, which in old High German appears as ur or er, and in modern German as er, which signifies the completion of an action, as in erwachen, to which awake corresponds. Frequently no special force seems to be added by the prefix, as in abide, arise, &c. Sometimes a appears as the representative of the prefix commonly used in past participles, which has the form ge in German, and ge and y in old English, e.g., in ago or agone; compare aware (O.E. gewaere), among (O.E. gemang), &c. A also stood for the preposition an (on) in such expressions (now obsolete) as a-doing, a-making, where doing and making are verbal nouns. Lastly, it represents the prepositions on or of in the phrases now-a-days, Jack-a-lantern, and others.
The place that A occupies in the alphabet accounts for its being much employed as a mark or symbol. It is used, for instance, to name the sixth note of the gamut in music; in some systems of notation it is a numeral (see Arithmetic); and in Logic it denotes a universal affirmative proposition (see Logic). In algebra, a and the first letters of the alphabet are employed to represent known quantities. A1 marks the best class of vessels in Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. In the old poets, "A per se" is found, meaning the highest degree of excellence; as when Chaucer calls Creseide "the floure and A per se of Troye and Grece."
A was the first of the eight literæ nundinales at Rome, and on this analogy it stands as the first of the seven Dominical letters.
It is often used as an abbreviation, as in A.D. for anno domini, A.M. for ante meridiem, A.B. and A.M. for artium baccalaureus and artium magister. In commerce A stands for accepted. (J. P.)
AA, the name of about forty small European rivers. The word is derived from the old German aha, cognate to the Latin aqua, water. The following are the more important streams of this name:—a river of Holland, in North Brabant, which joins the Dommel at Bois-le-Duc; two rivers in the west of Russia, both falling into the Gulf of Livonia, near Riga, which is situated between them; a river in the north of France, falling into the sea at Gravelines, and navigable as far as St Omer; and a river of Switzerland, in the cantons of Lucerne and Aargau, which carries the waters of Lakes Baldeker and Hallwyler into the Aar.
AACHEN. See Aix-la-Chapelle.
AALBORG, a city and seaport of Denmark, is situated on the Liimfiord, about 15 miles from its junction with the Cattegat. It is the capital of the district of the same name, one of the subdivisions of the province of Jutland. The city is a place of considerable commercial importance, and contains a cathedral and a school of navigation. Soap, tobacco, and leather are manufactured; there are several distilleries; and the herring fishery is extensively prosecuted. Grain and herring are largely exported, as are also to a smaller extent wool, cattle, skins, tallow, salt provisions, and spirits. The harbour, which is good and safe, though difficult of access, is entered by about 800 vessels annually, and there is direct steam communication with Copenhagen. The district is celebrated for its breed of horses. Population (1870), 11,953.
AALEN, a walled town of Würtemberg, pleasantly situated on the Kocher, at the foot of the Swabian Alps about 50 miles E. of Stuttgart. Woollen and linen goods are manufactured, and there are ribbon looms and tanneries in the town, and large iron works in the neighbourhood. Aalen was a free imperial city from 13GO till 1802, when it was annexed to Wiirtemberg. Population (1871), 5552.
