# あ

| あ | U+3042, &#12354; HIRAGANA LETTER A |
| ← ぁ [U+3041] | Hiragana | ぃ → [U+3043] |

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 安 in the cursive sōsho style.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [a̠]
* Audio:(file)

#### Syllable

あ • (a)
* The hiragana syllable あ (a). Its equivalent in katakana is ア (a). It is the first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is あ行あ段 (a-gyō a-dan, “row a, section a”).

##### See also

* (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

### Etymology 2

* Alternative spelling
* ア
Common exclamatory sound made by people of various cultures around the world.

#### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) あ [áꜜ] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [a̠]

#### Interjection

あ or ア • (a)
* expresses surprise: Ah! Oh!
    Synonym: あっ (a')
* used to get someone's attention
* used as a response to someone's call
    Synonym: はい (hai)

### Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of あ – see the following entries. :
| 【亜】S | [prefix] (chemistry) indicates a lower oxidation number: -ous [affix] ranking next, coming after, sub- [affix] Used as a phonetic element in transliterations, especially: [affix] Short for アジア／亜細亜 (Ajia, “Asia (a continent)”). [affix] (obsolete) Short for アメリカ／亜米利加 (Amerika): America, the United States [affix] Alternative spelling of 堊 (a): white earth [proper noun] a female given name |
| 【阿】J | [noun] The first letter of Sanskrit, अ (a). [affix] to flatter; to pander to [affix] ridge (of roof); eaves [affix] A prefix expressing familiarity. [affix] Used as a phonetic element, especially in words from Sanskrit. [affix] Short for アフリカ (Afurika, “Africa”). [affix] Short for 阿波国 (Awa no kuni, “Awa Province”). |
| 【唖】H | [noun] muteness; dumbness [affix] mute, dumb |
| 【蛙】H | [affix] frog (amphibious animal) |
| 【痾】H | [affix] illness; disease |
(This term, あ (a), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as あ, see Category:Japanese kanji read as あ.) :

### Etymology 4

* Alternative spellings
* 吾 我
From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *a. The short form of あれ (are).
Fell into disuse in roughly the Heian period, when it was replaced by わ (wa).

#### Pronoun

あ • (a)
* (obsolete) first-person personal pronoun: I, me
** c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Yūgao)
    あが君(きみ)、生(い)き出(い)で給(たま)へ。いと、いみじき目(め)な見(み)せ給(たま)ひそ
       A ga kimi, iki ide tamahe. Ito, imi jiki me namisetamahiso
       Ye, return to life. Show not such sad eyes

#### See also

| | a-/wa- “I, we” (first person) | na-/-ma- “you, ye, thou” (second person) | k- “this” (close to speaker) | s- “that” (close to listener) | a-/ka- “that over there” (far from both) | i-/ta-/nani- “who, what, where, how, when” (interrogative) | ono- “oneself” (reflexive) |
| Person | あ (a) あれ (are) わ (wa) われ (ware) まろ (maro) | な (na) なれ (nare) なんぢ (nanji) まし (mashi) いまし (imashi) みまし (mimashi) きみ (kimi) | こ (ko) これ (kore) | そ (so) それ (sore) | あ (a) あれ (are) か (ka) かれ (kare) | た (ta) たれ (tare) なにがし (nanigashi) | おの (ono) おのれ (onore) |
| Thing | | | こ (ko) これ (kore) | そ (so) それ (sore) | あ (a) あれ (are) か (ka) かれ (kare) | いづれ (izure) なに (nani) | |
| Location | | | ここ (koko) | そこ (soko) | あしこ (ashiko) かしこ (kashiko) | いづく (izuku) いづこ (izuko) いどこ (idoko) どこ (doko) | |
| Direction | | | こち (kochi) こなた (konata) | そち (sochi) そなた (sonata) | あち (achi) あなた (anata) かなた (kanata) | いづち (izuchi) いづら (izura) いづかた (izukata) | |
| Manner | | | か (ka) かく (kaku) かくて (kakute) かう (kō) | さ (sa) さて (sate) しか (shika) | | いか (ika) | |
| Time | | | | | | いつ (itsu) | |

### Etymology 5

* Alternative spelling
* 彼
/ka/ → /a/
Shift in pronunciation from か (ka). Appears from the Heian period.

#### Pronoun

あ • (a)
* distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

##### Derived terms

* 彼(あ)の (ano, “that [one] (as a modifier)”)
* 彼(あれ) (are, “that [one] (as a noun)”)

#### See also

| | a-/wa- “I, we” (first person) | na-/-ma- “you, ye, thou” (second person) | k- “this” (close to speaker) | s- “that” (close to listener) | a-/ka- “that over there” (far from both) | i-/ta-/nani- “who, what, where, how, when” (interrogative) | ono- “oneself” (reflexive) |
| Person | あ (a) あれ (are) わ (wa) われ (ware) まろ (maro) | な (na) なれ (nare) なんぢ (nanji) まし (mashi) いまし (imashi) みまし (mimashi) きみ (kimi) | こ (ko) これ (kore) | そ (so) それ (sore) | あ (a) あれ (are) か (ka) かれ (kare) | た (ta) たれ (tare) なにがし (nanigashi) | おの (ono) おのれ (onore) |
| Thing | | | こ (ko) これ (kore) | そ (so) それ (sore) | あ (a) あれ (are) か (ka) かれ (kare) | いづれ (izure) なに (nani) | |
| Location | | | ここ (koko) | そこ (soko) | あしこ (ashiko) かしこ (kashiko) | いづく (izuku) いづこ (izuko) いどこ (idoko) どこ (doko) | |
| Direction | | | こち (kochi) こなた (konata) | そち (sochi) そなた (sonata) | あち (achi) あなた (anata) かなた (kanata) | いづち (izuchi) いづら (izura) いづかた (izukata) | |
| Manner | | | か (ka) かく (kaku) かくて (kakute) かう (kō) | さ (sa) さて (sate) しか (shika) | | いか (ika) | |
| Time | | | | | | いつ (itsu) | |

### Etymology 6

* Alternative spelling
* 足

#### Noun

あ • (a)
* (obsolete) foot

### Etymology 7

* Alternative spellings
* 畔 畦

#### Noun

あ • (a)
* (obsolete) ridge between rice fields; ridge between groves

### Etymology 8

* Alternative spellings
* 有 在
Alternative spelling of あん (an), the onbin form of あり (ari) or ある (aru), with the ん (n) omitted in writing.

#### Verb

あ • (a)
* (Classical Japanese) to be, to exist
** c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari
    わざとあめるを、早(はや)うものせよかし。
       Wazato a meru o, hayō monoseyo kashi.
       It seems to be special [an invitation], so please go early.

### References

* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* Satake, Akihiro with Hideo Yamada, Rikio Kudō, Masao Ōtani, and Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (c. 759) Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 3: Man’yōshū 3 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, published 2002, →ISBN.
* Yamagishi, Tokuhei (1958) [c. 1001-1014] Koten Bungaku Taikei 14: Genji Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN

## Okinawan
### Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *a, from Proto-Japonic *a.

### Noun

あ (a)
* (Old Okinawan) I; first-person pronoun
** 1531-1623, Omoro Sōshi
    あらかきの　うきおほちか　もりに　あか　なさ す　ふため　まさりよわれarakaki no, uki ofoji ga, mori ni, a ga, nasa su, futame, masariyowareThe ancestors of Arakaki, exceed the good fortune of my father.
** 1711, Konkōkenshū:わん　又あか　我れなりwan, MATA a ga. WAre nariWan. Also a ga. Me.

### References

* Okinawa Kogo Daijiten Henshū I'inkai (沖縄古語大辞典編集委員会) (1995) 沖縄古語大辞典 [Dictionary of Archaic Okinawan], Tokyo (東京都): Kadokawa Shoten (角川書店), →ISBN, page 1