CYCLOPEDIA'. 



OR, A NEW 



UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY 



OF 



ARTS and SCIENCES. 



A 



A May be confidered, I. asn letter; IT. as a word ; 

 and III. as an abbreviation. 

 I. A, as a LETTER, or the mark of a vocal 

 found, is the moft I'lmple, and that which the dumb are mofl 

 eafily taught to utter. 



To pronounce it clearly, we need only open the mouth 

 wider than for any other found, and then emit the air from 

 our lungs. It is the firft letter of the alphabet in all the 

 known languages of the world, except in that of the 

 Ethiopians ; in which, according to Ludolfus, it is the 

 thirteenth. 



We muil feek the origin of this, and the reft of our 

 letters, in the Oriental languages. See Alphabet and 

 Letters. 



In the Englifh language, the charafter A is the mark of 

 three different founds, which are termed by our grammarians 

 the Iroad A, the open A, and xhcJJeiidsr A. 



1. Our broad A, refembles the found marked by the 

 German A, and is found in many of our monofyllables, as 

 nil, luall, 77uilt,fah, where it is pronounced as au in caufe and 

 ftiult, or as aw, in laiu. It is probable that this broad found 



was that which our Saxon anceftors expreffed by the cha- 

 rafter A, as it is ilill, almoil unifonnly, retained in the niftic 

 prommciation and northern dialefts of our language ; as 

 taulk for talk, maun for mfm, haimd for hand. Sec. 



2. The open A of the Englifli, is not unhke the A of 

 the Italians in adayjo, and is the found marked by this letter 

 in father, rather, &c. 



3. 'Thejlendi'r found marked by the charafter A, is pe- 

 cuhar to the Englilh language, and refembles the found of 

 the French e mafeuline, or of their diphthong ai in pais ; 

 perhaps it is a middle found between tb.cm, or between the a 

 and e. Such we have in the words pLur,fdu; <zv(ifle, and in 

 all thofe that terminate in ation-', ?iifaIval:on,prcf;rvatioa, Sec. 



The founds of which A is the charafter in our language, 

 Vol. I. 



are fometimes (hort ; as in the words g!a/s, gri/s, Irafs, kc. 

 at other times long ; as in gfazf, graze, Sec. Their length 

 is commonly denoted by an i immediately fubjoined to the 

 a ; as in plain, rain, &c. or by au e added at the end of the 

 word ; as in plane, crane. Sec. 



Some contend that there are four, others, that there are 

 five diftinifl founds, denoted by the charadler A in the 

 Englifh language. There are, perhaps, little variations and 

 diilinftions in the founds marked by the charaftcr A, a8 

 well as by the other vowel letters in our alphabet ; but they 

 are fo local or arbitrary, or, after all, lb nice and fubtle, 

 that they entirely efcape the notice of foreigners, and are 

 hardly diftinguifhable by the natives. Thofe who defire to 

 enter more deeply into the iirfl fonnation of founds, and to 

 fee the elemental^ principles of fpeech treated with philofo- 

 phical accuracy, will find fatisfacfion in the ingenious 

 treatifes of Walhs and Holder. 



In burlefque poetry, the letter A is fometimes added 

 after words ; it lengthens them a fyllable, without altering 

 their fenfe ; as line-a, for line, in Diyden, Sic. It is fome- 

 times redundant, when prefixed to words, as arlje, a-uiakc ; 

 the fame with rife, -wake. Sec. 



In our Calendar, A is the firft of the dominical letters 

 which were introduced in imitation of the eight nukdinal 

 letters of the Romans, of wliich the A was one. 



II. A is a WORD. This firft fimple found is ufed in 

 our language to exprefs moft of the vehement emotions of 

 the foul. We naturally ufe it on all fudden Oecafions of 

 admiration, joy, anguifh, apprehcnfion of danger, &c. and 

 where the emotion is veiy great, the A is enforced by add- 

 ing an afpirate to it, as ai ! 



It is fometimes a noun ; for we fay great A and little a ; 

 but it is moft commonly a definite, or an indefinite article. 

 It is definite, and denotes the number one, as, a man is 

 coming, that is, no man than ottt. It is alfo ufed as an m- 



B difnite 



