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The firt letter of the European alphabets, has, in the Englih language, three different ounds, which may be termed the broad, open, and lender.

The broad ound reembling that of the German a is found, in many of our monoyllables, as all, wall, malt, alt; in which a is pronounced as au in caue, or aw in law. Many of thee words were anciently written with au, as fault, waulk; which happens to be till retained in fault. This was probably the ancient ound of the Saxons, ince it is almot uniformly preerved in the rutic pronunciation, and the Northern dialects, as maun for man, haund for hand.

A open, not unlike the a of the Italians, is found in father, rather, and more obcurely in fancy, fat. &c.

A lender or cloe, is the peculiar a of the Englih language, reembling the ound of the French e maculine, or diphthong ai in pais, or perhaps a middle ound between them, or between the a and e; to this the Arabic a is aid nearly to approach. Of this ound we have examples in the words, place, face, wate and all thoe that terminate in ation; as, relation, nation, generation.

A is hort, as, glas, gras; or long, as, glaze, graze: it is marked long, generally, by an e final, plane, or by an i added, as, plain.

A, an article et before nouns of the ingular number; a man, a tree; denoting the number one, as, a man is coming, that is, no more than one; or an indefinite indication, as, a man may come this way; that is, any man. This article has no plural ignification. Before a word beginning with a vowel, it is written an, as, an ox, an egg, of which a is the contraction.

A is ometimes a noun; as, a great A, a little a.

A is placed before a participle, or participial noun; and is conidered by Wallis as a contraction of at, when it is put before a word denoting ome action not yet finihed; as, I am a walking. It alo eems to be anciently contracted from at, when placed before local urnames; as, Thomas a Becket. In other caes, it eems to ignify to, like the French à.

A has a peculiar ignification, denoting the proportion of one thing to another. Thus we ay. The landlord hath a hundred a year; The hip's crew gained a thouand pounds a man.

A is ued in burleque poetry, to lengthen out a yllable, without adding to the ene.

A is ometimes, in familiar writings, put by a barbarous corruption for he.

A, in compoition, eems to have ometimes the power of the French a in thee phraes, a droit, a gauche, &c. and ometimes to be contracted from at; as, aide, alope, afoot, aleep, athirt, aware.

A is ometimes redundant; as, arie, aroue, awake; the ame with rie, roue, wake.

A, in abbreviations, tands for artium, or arts; as, A. B. bachelor of arts, artium baccalaureus; A. M. mater of arts, artium magiter; or, anno; as, A. D. anno domini.

AB, at the beginning of the names of places, generally hews that they have ome relation to an abbey.

adv. obolete. Backwards.

ABA CTOR. n. . [Lat. abacttor, a driver away.] Thoe who drive away or eal cattle in herds, or great numbers at once, in ditinction from thoe that teal only a heep or two.

A BACUS. n. . [Lat. abacus.]
 * 1) A counting-table, anciently ued in calculations.
 * 2) In architecture, it is the uppermot member of a column, which erves as a ort of crowning both to the capital and column.

adv. [of, Sax. Behind.] From the fore-part of the hip, towards the tern.

n. . [from the French abaier, to depres, to bring down.] An act of reverence, a bow. Obeyance is conidered by Skinner as a corruption of abaiance, but is now univerally ued.

v. a. [from abalieno, Lat.] To make that another's which was our own before.

A term of the civil law, not much ued in common peech.

n. . [Lat abalienatio.] A giving up one's right to another peron; or a making over an etate, goods, or chattels by ale, or due coure of law.

v. a. [A word contracted from abandon, but not now in ue. See ABANDON.] To forake.

v. a. [Fr. abandonner. Derived, according to Menage, from the Italian abandonare, which ignifies to forake his colours; bandum [vexillum] deerere. Paquier thinks Rh