# 'a
## English
### Pronoun

'a
* (archaic) Alternative form of a (“he, she, they”)

### Verb

'a
* (archaic) Alternative form of a (“have, had”)

### Particle

'a
* Alternative form of a (“to”)
** 1955, Russell Ames, “The Open Road, the Chain Gang, and the Jail”, in The Story of American Folk Song (The Listener’s Music Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, published 1960, →OCLC, page 248:Say, these stripes, stripes sure don’t worry me. But these chains, chains goin’ ’a kill me dead.
** 2009, Jennifer Worth, “The Captain’s Daughter”, in Farewell to the East End, London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, →ISBN, page 237:Well, this one’s ’ere all right. Captain’s wife or somefink, the mate says. Least, that’s what I think he’s tryin’ ’a say, because he can’t speak no English.
** 2014, R[oger] N. Morris, chapter 11, in The Dark Palace (A Silas Quinn Mystery; 3), Sutton, Surrey: Crème de la Crime, →ISBN, Part 1 (Love), page 50:So while we’re all distracted tryin’ ’a fix it all – that’s when they strike.

## French
### Article

’a f sg
* (Quebec, informal) Contraction of la.

## Guaraní
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʔa/

### Noun

'a
* fall
* fruit
* egg

### Verb

'a (intransitive, irregular)
* to fall
* to be born
* to fructify
* to like someone

#### Conjugation
## Mbyá Guaraní
### Etymology 1
#### Noun

'a
* fruit

##### Possessed forms
### Etymology 2
#### Noun

'a
* hair

##### Possessed forms
### Etymology 3
#### Verb

'a
* to fall, to tumble
* to get caught (e.g. in a trap)
* to lose (to fail to win)

##### Conjugation
### References

* Robert A. Dooley (2016 August) “'a”, in Léxico guarani, dialeto mbyá: guarani-português (overall work in Portuguese), Anápolis: SIL Brasil, page 3

## Neapolitan
### Etymology 1

From Old Neapolitan la.

#### Article

'a f (definite)
* the

#### Pronoun

'a f
* her (accusative)

##### Coordinate terms
### Etymology 2

From Old Neapolitan da, from Latin de ab.

#### Alternative forms

* a

#### Preposition

'a
* from
* by (indicating the actor in a passive voice)
* to (something that has to be done)

### See also

* â
* 'e
* ll'
* 'o

## Old Tupi
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈʔa/
* Rhymes: -a
* Hyphenation: 'a

### Etymology 1

From Proto-Tupi-Guarani *ʔa (“fruit, head”), from Proto-Tupian *ʔa (“fruit, head”).
Cognate with Sateré-Mawé 'a and Guaraní 'a.

#### Noun

'a (possessable)
* (chiefly in compounds) head (part of the body)
    Synonym: akanga
* glans penis
    Synonym: 'ayîá
* fruit
    Synonym: 'ybá
* (vocative, in reverence) dude; bro term of address for a man
* (vocative, in reverence) companion; comrade; term of address for a friend
* (vocative, in reverence) sir; term of address for an old man

##### Derived terms

* 'apixapaba
* 'aîuru

### Etymology 2

Apocopic form of 'ar.

#### Verb

'a (first-person singular active indicative a'a, first-person singular negative active indicative n'a'aî, noun 'ara) (intransitive)
* (São Vicente) Alternative form of 'ar

### References

* ↑ Andrey Nikulin (2020) Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB, page 570
* ↑ Beatriz Carretta Corrêa da Silva (2010) Mawé/Awetí/Tupí-Guaraní: relações linguísticas e implicações históricas‎ (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB
* ↑ Aryon d'Alligna Rodrigues (2007) “As consoantes do proto-tupí”, in Aryon d'Alligna Rodrigues, Ana Suelly Arruda Câmara Cabral, editors, Línguas e culturas tupí‎, 1 edition, volume 1, Campinas: Curt Nimuendajú, pages 167–204

### Further reading

* Eduardo de Almeida Navarro (2013) “'a”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 3, column 1

## Tarantino
### Article

'a f sg (plural le)
* the