i
A DICTIONARY OF
UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE
is the first letter in almost all
alphabets ; the only exceptions,
perhaps, are the Ethiopian,
where it takes the thirteenth
place, and the Runic, where it
® stands tenth. This letter repre-
sents in English at least four
distinct sounds, as heard in ale,
@\‘@) Y man, father, all. Of these, the third may
be considered its primitive and proper
sound ; it is its name-sound in perhaps all lan-
guages except English, and is that which is
assigned to it in comparative grammar. This
sound is the purest and fullest in humau speech ;
it is that which the child learns first and most
easily to produce, and its sign stands as if by
right at the head of the alphabet. In the oldest
languages it is the predominating vowel, and gives
them their peculiar fulness and strength. Philolo-
gists consider it the Zeawviest of the three fundamental
vowels ; the other two, 7 and » (whose primitive and
proper sounds are heard in me and do), seem to
have arisen out of @, by lightening or weakening it
(Lat. cadence—incidence, calco—inculco). By com-
bining with these, @ gives rise to a7, au, which in
their turn coalesce into é and 6.—In the Pheenician
alphabet, the letter A bears the name of aleph ; i.e.,
¢ ox,” with reference to its most ancient form, which
rudely represented an ox’s head. From this came
the Greek name alpha. For engraving or tracing
on stone or other hard materials, characters com-
posed of straight lines are best adapted, and such
was naturally the earliest form of A and the other
letters. It is easy to trace the growth of our small
a or ¢ out of the monumental A. In Greek and
Roman inscriptions executed hastily or carelessly,
the form A is often found; and this, written
with a flexible reed, became rounded into b
~—UFor A and the other letters as abbreviations, see
ABBREVIATIONS,
1
A, as a note in Music, is the major sixth of the scale
of C, major. When perfectly in tune to C, it stands
in the proportion of Z of 1. But in this state it
would not be a fifth to D, the second note of the
scale of C, being a comma too flat, which difference
is as 80 to 81. 'The ear being sensibly offended with
this deficiency, the note A is therefore made the least
degree higher than perfect—namely, %%, by which
the advantage is gained, that A is a fifth above D
18%), or only deficient in the proportion of 161
—a deficiency so trifling that the ear accepts the
fifth, D, A, and the sixth, C, A, as perfect, although,
mathematically calculated, the one is too great and
the other too small.—For A Major and A Minor,
see Kxy.
A1, a symbol by which first-class vessels are
known in Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign
Shipping (q.v.), and by which the operations of
shippers of goods and insurers are governed. Sur-
veyors appointed by the society examine all vessels
in course of building, with a view to ascertaining
their character, and inscribing them accordingly in
the register. A designates the character of the hull
of the vessel ; the figure 1, the efficient state of her
anchors, cables, and stores ; when these are insuffi-
cient, in quantity or quality, the figure 2 is used.
The character A is assigned to a new ship for a
certain number of years, varying from four to
fifteen, according to the material and mode of
building, but on condition of the vessel being
statedly surveyed, to see that the efficiency is
maintained. A vessel built under a roof is allowed
an additional year on that account. An additional
period of one year, and, in certain -cases, of two
years, is also allowed to vessels whose decks, outside
planking, &c., are fastened in a specified way. After
the original period has elapsed, the character A may
be ¢ continued’ or ‘restored’ for a time (1—8 years),
on condition of certain specified repairs.—When
a vessel has passed the age for the character A,
but is still found fit for - conveying perishable
goods to all parts of the world, it is registered A
in red. (The symbol for this class was formerlly A
