A
First letter of the Latin alphabet / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet,[1][2] used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is a (pronounced /ˈeɪ/ AY), plural aes.[nb 1][2]
| A | |
|---|---|
| A a | |
 | |
| Usage | |
| Writing system | Latin script |
| Type | Alphabetic |
| Language of origin | Latin language |
| Phonetic usage | |
| Unicode codepoint | U+0041, U+0061 |
| Alphabetical position | 1 |
| History | |
| Development | |
| Time period | c. 700 BCE – present |
| Descendants | |
| Sisters | |
| Other | |
| Other letters commonly used with | a(x), ae, eau, au |
| Writing direction | Left-to-right |
| This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives.[3] 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 based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.
In English, a is the indefinite article, with the alternative form an.