'a

See also: Appendix:Variations of "a"

English

Pronoun

'a

1. (archaic) Alternative form of a (“he, she, they”)

Verb

'a

1. (archaic) Alternative form of a (“have, had”)

Particle

'a

1. 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

1. (Quebec, informal) Contraction of la.

Guaraní

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔa/

Noun

'a

1. fall
2. fruit
3. egg

Verb

'a (intransitive, irregular)

1. to fall
2. to be born
3. to fructify
4. to like someone

Conjugation

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
active
	indicative	che ha'a	nde re'a	ha'e ho'a	ñande ja'a	ore ro'a	peẽ pe'a	ha'ekuéra ho'a/ho'a hikuái
	hortative	ta'a che	tere'a nde	to'a ha'e	taja'a ñande	taro'a ore	tape'a peẽ	to'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	he'a	-	-	-	pe'a	-
passive
	indicative	che aje'a	nde reje'a	ha'e oje'a	ñande jaje'a	ore roje'a	peẽ peje'a	ha'ekuéra oje'a/oje'a hikuái
	hortative	taje'a che	tereje'a nde	toje'a ha'e	tajaje'a ñande	taroje'a ore	tapeje'a peẽ	toje'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eje'a	-	-	-	peje'a	-
reciprocal
	indicative	-	-	-	ñande jajo'a	ore rojo'a	peẽ pejo'a	ha'ekuéra hojo'a/hojo'a hikuái
	hortative	-	-	-	tajajo'a ñande	tarojo'a ore	tapejo'a peẽ	tojo'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	-	-	-	-	pejo'a	-
coactive
	indicative	che hambo'a	nde rembo'a	ha'e hombo'a	ñande ñambo'a	ore rombo'a	peẽ pembo'a	ha'ekuéra hombo'a/hombo'a hikuái
	hortative	tambo'a che	terembo'a nde	tombo'a ha'e	tañambo'a ñande	tarombo'a ore	tapembo'a peẽ	tombo'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	hembo'a	-	-	-	pembo'a	-
objective
	indicative	che haro'a/haguero'a	nde rero'a/reguero'a	ha'e horo'a/hoguero'a	ñande jaro'a/jaguero'a	ore roro'a/roguero'a	peẽ pero'a/peguero'a	ha'ekuéra horo'a/hoguero'a//horo'a/hoguero'a hikuái
	hortative	taro'a/taguero'a che	terero'a/tereguero'a nde	toro'a/toguero'a ha'e	tajaro'a/tajaguero'a ñande	taroro'a/taroguero'a ore	tapero'a/tapeguero'a peẽ	toro'a/toguero'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	hero'a/heguero'a	-	-	-	pero'a/peguero'a	-
subsuntive¹
	indicative	che haporo'a/hamba'e'a	nde reporo'a/remba'e'a	ha'e hoporo'a/homba'e'a	ñande japoro'a/ñamba'e'a	ore roporo'a/romba'e'a	peẽ peporo'a/pemba'e'a	ha'ekuéra hoporo'a/homba'e'a//hoporo'a/homba'e'a hikuái
	hortative	taporo'a/tamba'e'a che	tereporo'a/teremba'e'a nde	toporo'a/tomba'e'a ha'e	tajaporo'a/tañamba'e'a ñande	taroporo'a/taromba'e'a ore	tapeporo'a/tapemba'e'a peẽ	toporo'a/tomba'e'a ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	heporo'a/hemba'e'a	-	-	-	peporo'a/pemba'e'a	-
		¹: the subsuntive forms with -poro- are used with humans, while the forms with -mba'e- are used with animals.

    Conjugation of 'a

Mbyá Guaraní

Etymology 1

Noun

'a

1. fruit

Possessed forms

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xe'a	nde'a	hi'a	nhande'a	ore'a	pende'a	hi'a

    Possessed forms of 'a

Etymology 2

Noun

'a

1. hair

Possessed forms

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xe'a	nde'a	hi'a	nhande'a	ore'a	pende'a	hi'a

    Possessed forms of 'a

Etymology 3

Verb

'a

1. to fall, to tumble
2. to get caught (e.g. in a trap)
3. to lose (to fail to win)

Conjugation

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xee ha'a	ndee ere'a	ha'e ho'a	nhande ja'a	ore oro'a	peẽ pe'a	ha'e ho'a

    Conjugation of 'a

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)

1. the

Pronoun

'a f

1. her (accusative)

Coordinate terms

Number	Person	Nominative	Accusative	Dative	Reflexive	Possessive	Prepositional
singular	first-person	io (i')	me			mìo, mìa, mieje, meje	me, méne
	second-person, familiar	tu	te			tùjo, tòja, tùoje, tòje	te, téne
	second-person, formal	vuje	ve			vuósto, vósta, vuóste, vóste	vuje
	third-person, masculine	ìsso	'o, 'u (lo, lu)	'i, 'e (li, le)	se	sùjo, sòja, sùoje, sòje	ìsso
	third-person, feminine	éssa	'a (la)	'e (le)			éssa
plural	first-person	nuje	ce			nuósto, nòsta, nuóste, nòste	nuje
	second-person, plural	vuje	ve			vuósto, vòsta, vuóste, vòste	vuje
	third-person, masculine	ìsse	'i, 'e (li, le)	llòro	se	llòro (invariable)	llòro
	third-person, feminine	llòro	'e (le)

Etymology 2

From Old Neapolitan da, from Latin de ab.

Alternative forms

• a

Preposition

'a

1. from
2. by (indicating the actor in a passive voice)
3. to (something that has to be done)

See also

• â
• 'e
• ll'
• 'o

Old Tupi

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʔa/
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: 'a

Etymology 1

From Proto-Tupi-Guarani *ʔa (“fruit, head”), from Proto-Tupian *ʔa (“fruit, head”).^[1][2][3]

Cognate wirh Sateré-Mawé 'a and Guaraní 'a.

Noun

'a (possessable)

1. (chiefly in compounds) head (part of the body)

   Synonym: akanga

2. glans penis

   Synonym: 'ayîá

3. fruit

   Synonym: 'ybá

4. (vocative, in reverence) dude; bro term of address for a man
5. (vocative, in reverence) companion; comrade; term of address for a friend
6. (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, first-person singular gerund gûi'a, noun 'ara) (intransitive)

1. (São Vicente) Alternative form of 'ar

References

1. Andrey Nikulin (2020) Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB, page 570
2. Beatriz Carretta Corrêa da Silva (2010) Mawé/Awetí/Tupí-Guaraní: relações linguísticas e implicações históricas‎ (in Portuguese), Brasília: UnB
3. 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)

1. the