THE NATIONAL CYCLOPÆDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE. VOL. I. A-ARCESILAUS. STATE HISTORICAL SC OF WISCON BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1853. AE ·No28 THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE." A. AALBORGS AMT. A. the first letter of the alphabet in the Eng- That an and not a is the primitive form of the lish language, and in many others. As a sound, article, is proved by the Anglo-Saxon an and its power in English is at least fourfold, as in the the German ein; indeed our own numeral one is words father, call, tame, and hat. The first of only another and fuller form of the same word. these sounds is that which generally prevails in In such phrases as three shillings a pound, the other languages. The modified pronunciation of article evidently has this meaning. The double the vowel in tame is partly due to the vowel e at shape of our article has led to a corrupt mode of the end of the word; in call and similar forms, writing certain words; thus from an eft was dethe peculiarity arises from the letter ; so that duced a neft, a newt. The letter a often appears the only true sounds of the vowel are perhaps prefixed to nouns so as to constitute a kind of the long sound in father, and the short one in adverb, as afoot, aside, aboard, now-a-days, &c. These, as Horne Tooke observes, are all abbre hat. 1, A The letter a is the most easily pronounced of viations of on fote, on syde, on borde, now-onthe vowels, requiring neither the retraction of the daics, &c., which thus occur in our old English lips like (=ee in feet), nor their propulsion as poets. This on is an Anglo-Saxon preposition in a (=00). 視 with the meaning of in. In many words now in readily interchanged with o. This is use, the a in the beginning takes the place of on. common between the German and English, as Alive, for instance, means on life, 2. e. in life. kalt, cold; alt, old; falt, fold. 2, A is also 'So he fell asleep,' in the old translation of the interchanged with e. Thus the Romans generally New Testament is, he fell on sleep. The a forsubstituted an a in those German names which merly often prefixed to our participles in ing, both now begin with e, as Albis, Elbe; Amisia, Ems. in the active and passive sense, as the house is 3, 4 is interchangeable with i. This is limited a-preparing, he is gone a-walking, has the same to the short vowels, as in the Greek negative origin. prefix & contrasted with the Latin in, and the Latin sine with the French sans. AA, the name of several small rivers, five of 4,4te is interchangeable with o. [See 0.) 5. A three to Flanders, one to Russia in Europe, and [See I.] which belong to Germany, five to Switzerland, is interchangeable with a, as in the Latin lact, one to France. The French Aa, one of the lactuca, factus, fames, panis, compared with the largest of these rivers, belongs to the department French lait, laitue, fait, faim, pain. So the Latin of the Pas-de-Calais. [PAS-DE-CALAIS.] amas, amamus, amatis, are contracted from amais, | AACH, the name of a small river and a amaimus, amaitis. 6, Ae is interchangeable with small town in the grand duchy of Baden. The a, as the ablative musa from musae, the impera- town of Aach is situated near the source of the tive ama from amae. river, and has between 500 and 600 inhabitants. AACHEN, the German name of AIX-LA A (in Music). [DIATONIC; GAMUT; SCALE.] The river falls into the Bodensee, or Lake of A or AN, the Indefinite Article. A is used Constance. before a consonant, an before a vowel. Thus we say an emperor, a king. Sometimes a virtual CHAPELLE. consonant exists at the beginning of a word with- | are AALBORG, the principal town of Aalborgs out being written, as in union and once, which Amt, in North Jutland, is situated on the south e pronounced with the initial sounds of y and side of the channel of the Lümfiord, in 57° 5' customary to drop the final letter of the article, at vessels drawing ten feet of water, and has a conleast in pronunciation, and there can be no good siderable trade in grain and herrings. The town Before such words it is N. lat., 9° 55′ E. long. The harbour admits , younion and unce. reason for not writing monarch. On the other hand, whenever his population is from 7500 to 8000. Aalborg means mute, we should retain the n both in writing and Eel-Town. speaking; thus, a history, but an historical work. a union, a once beloved is the seat of a bishop, and has a cathedral. The VOL. I. AALBORGS AMT, the most northern of the B |