-a
English
Etymology 1
From the homographic case endings of the nominative, accusative, and vocative forms of numerous Latin neuter second declension nouns.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɑ/, /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ɑ/, /ə/
Usage notes
- Whereas the regular pluralization in English involves adding -s or -es, English words derived from a Latin/Greek etymon where the Latin/Greek would pluralize from -on (Greek) or -um (Latin) to -a do not always do so. Usage of -a instead of -s differs between words: sometimes the two are interchangeable (e.g. memorandums/memoranda, polyhedrons/polyhedra), sometimes one is far more common than the other (e.g. neurons over neura, automata over automatons), and sometimes one is completely absent from usage (e.g. bacteria over bacteriums, dendrons over dendra)
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
Possibly due to the propensity in some non-rhotic dialects to pronounce words ending in -er as if they ended in an -a.
Pronunciation
- (General American, Received Pronunciation) in the context of a Northern English accent: IPA(key): /æ/
- (General American) in the context of a Black or slang accent: IPA(key): /ə/
Suffix
-a
- (Northern England) Same as -er in Standard English.
- me fatha was a corka burna doon the shipyard — “My father was a corker burner at the shipyard.”
- (Black English and slang) Used to replace -er in nouns.
- gangsta — “gangster”
- brotha — “brother”
See also
Etymology 3
Representing the nominative singular case ending of Latin first-declension feminine nouns.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ə, IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Suffix
Derived terms
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Etymology 5
Shortened version of verb have.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Etymology 6
Representing Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish feminine nouns.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Etymology 7
Added to lines of poetry and verse to maintain metrics.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Etymology 8
Shortened version of preposition of.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
Suffix
-a
Etymology 9
Shortened version of verb to.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ə/
References
- “-a” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 1.
- “-a” in Christine A. Lindberg, editor, The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Spark Publishing, 2002, →ISBN, page 1.
Czech
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈa]
Suffix
-a
Derived terms
Esperanto
Etymology
From feminine singular adjectives (and nouns) of the Romance languages, such as French ma, Italian mia, Spanish mía, fría.
Suffix
-a
- Related to, in the manner of, of. Ending for all adjectives in Esperanto.
- Belonging to, of. Ending for all possessive pronouns in Esperanto.
- -kind of. Ending of all correlatives of kind in Esperanto.
Finnish
Alternative forms
- (in words with front vowel harmony) -ä
Etymology 1
From Proto-Finnic *-da, from the Proto-Uralic ablative case *-ta. A variant form *-ta (whence Finnish -ta) was used after a syllable with secondary stress (suffixal gradation).
Suffix
-a (front vowel harmony variant -ä)
- (case suffix) Forms the partitive case of nouns, adjectives, numbers and some pronouns.
Usage notes
- This suffix is used after a short vowel or the plural marker -j-.
Etymology 2
From Proto-Finnic *-dak. Historically, a form of a lative suffix.
Suffix
-a (front vowel harmony variant -ä)
- (verbal suffix) Forms the short form of the first infinitive of verbs.
Usage notes
- The first infinitive, short form, is the citation form of verbs.
French
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɒ]
Audio (file)
Suffix
-a
Usage notes
- (possessive suffix) Variants:
Declension
Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | -a | — |
accusative | -át | — |
dative | -ának | — |
instrumental | -ával | — |
causal-final | -áért | — |
translative | -ává | — |
terminative | -áig | — |
essive-formal | -aként | — |
essive-modal | -ául | — |
inessive | -ában | — |
superessive | -án | — |
adessive | -ánál | — |
illative | -ába | — |
sublative | -ára | — |
allative | -ához | — |
elative | -ából | — |
delative | -áról | — |
ablative | -ától | — |
See also
- Category:Hungarian noun forms
- Appendix:Hungarian possessive suffixes
Icelandic
Suffix
-a
- Used to form verbs from nouns.
- Used to form adverbs from adjectives.
Derived terms
Ido
Suffix
-a
Derived terms
Usage notes
One may elide the final a of the adjectives, but with the condition not to produce accumulation from the consonants. One advise to use the elision mainly with the derivatived adjectives and particularly when they finish with -al-(a).[1]
References
- “KGD”, in Kompleta gramatiko detaloza (in Ido), accessed 2015-12-23, archived from the original on 27 January 2012
Irish
Suffix
-a
- plural ending of certain nouns
- plural ending of adjectives in the nominative, vocative, dative, and strong genitive cases
- genitive singular ending of third-declension nouns
Italian
Suffix
-a
- Used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular present tense of -are verbs.
- Used, with a stem, to form the second-person singular imperative of -are verbs.
- Used, with a stem, to form the first-person singular, second-person singular and third-person singular present subjunctive of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert "isc".
- Used, with a stem, to form the third-person singular imperative of -ere verbs, and of those -ire verbs that do not insert "isc".
Latin
Etymology 1
From Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ (forming in this case masculine nouns).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /a/
Suffix
-a m or f (genitive -ae); first declension
Declension
First declension.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | -a | -ae |
Genitive | -ae | -ārum |
Dative | -ae | -īs |
Accusative | -am | -ās |
Ablative | -ā | -īs |
Vocative | -a | -ae |
Synonyms
- (suffixed to the roots of verbs, forms masculine agent nouns): -ō¹
Derived terms
References
- “-a¹” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
Etymology 2
From the Old Latin -ād, originally the ablative feminine singular form of first-declension adjectives (compare -us, suffix forming adjectives).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /aː/
Suffix
-ā (not comparable)
Derived terms
References
- “-ā²” on page 1/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
Etymology 3
Declined forms of -us (suffix forming adjectives).
Pronunciation 1
- (Classical) IPA(key): /a/
Suffix
-a
- inflection of -us:
- nominative feminine singular
- nominative and accusative neuter plural
- vocative feminine singular
- vocative neuter plural
Pronunciation 2
- (Classical) IPA(key): /aː/
Etymology 4
A conjugated form of -ō³ (suffix forming verbs).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /aː/
Latvian
Synonyms
Derived terms
Northern Sami
Etymology
From Proto-Samic *-ëk. Cognate with Finnish -e.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-a (with odd-syllable stems -at)
Usage notes
This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable in the nominative singular and essive, and the strong grade in the other forms.
Inflection
Odd, no gradation | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nominative | -at | |||||||||||||||||||||
Genitive | -aga | |||||||||||||||||||||
Singular | Plural | |||||||||||||||||||||
Nominative | -at | -agat | ||||||||||||||||||||
Accusative | -aga | -agiid | ||||||||||||||||||||
Genitive | -aga | -agiid | ||||||||||||||||||||
Illative | -agii | -agiidda | ||||||||||||||||||||
Locative | -agis | -agiin | ||||||||||||||||||||
Comitative | -agiin | -agiiguin | ||||||||||||||||||||
Essive | -agin | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Suffix
-a
- Used to form infinitive form of most verbs
- Used to form imperative form of many weak verbs
- Used to form past tense form of many weak verbs
- Used to form past participle of many weak verbs
- Used for every singular and plural form of the adjectives formed from participle forms of many verbs
- Used to form singular indefinite feminine form of some pronouns and adjectives
- Used to form singular definite form of feminine nouns
- Used to form plural definite form of neuter nouns
- Used to form singular indefinite and definite form of weak neuter nouns
- (non-standard since 2012) Used to form singular indefinite form of weak feminine nouns
- (archaic)(nonstandard) Used to form dative case of singular definite weak masculine and neuter nouns
- (archaic)(nonstandard) Used to form singular definite and plural indefinite feminine form of adjectives
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology 1
From Proto-Germanic *-ô.
Suffix
-a
Etymology 2
From Proto-Germanic *-ô. Cognate with Old High German -o.
Suffix
-a m
Declension
Derived terms
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a/, IPA(key): /ɐ/
Etymology 1
From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -a.
Suffix
-a f
Etymology 2
From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -at.
Suffix
-a
- forms the third-person singular present indicative of verbs ending in -ar
- João fala português.
- John speaks Portuguese.
Etymology 3
From Old Portuguese -a, from Latin -ā.
Suffix
-a
- forms the second-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -ar
- João, conta-nos o seu apelido.
- John, tell us your last name.
Etymology 4
Suffix
-a
- forms the first-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir
- É importante que eu coma carne.
- It is important that I eat meat.
- forms the third-person singular present subjunctive of verbs ending in -er and -ir
- É importante que ele coma carne.
- It is important that he eat meat.
- forms the third-person singular affirmative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir
- Ei você aí, coma carne.
- Hey you there, eat meat.
- forms the third-person singular negative imperative of verbs ending in -er and -ir
- Ei você aí, não coma carne.
- Hey you there, don’t eat meat.
Usage notes
The third-person imperative isn’t used with third person pronouns, it’s used with você, which is a second-person pronoun but always takes third-person conjugation.
Etymology 5
Suffix
-a
- (slang) used in the end of shortenings
- vestibular + -a → vestiba (“university admittance test”)
- vagabundo + -a → vagaba (“loafer”)
Romanian
Alternative forms
- -ua (used for feminine nouns ending in a stressed vowel or diphthong)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a/
Usage notes
This form of the definite article is used for feminine nouns in the nominative and accusative cases which end in -ă or in an unstressed vowel:
The suffix is also used with feminine adjectives in the nominative and accusative cases to make the articulated definite form, often for emphasis, and it is used before the noun it modifies:
Related terms
Etymology 2
From Latin -āre, the ending of the present active infinitive form of first conjugation verbs. Cognate with Spanish -ar, French -er, Italian -are, etc.
Suffix
-a
- A suffix forming infinitives of many verbs.
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology 1
Suffix
-a (Cyrillic spelling -а)
- Suffix appended to words (usually verbal stems) to create a feminine noun, usually denoting a relation or to form a proper noun.
Etymology 2
From Proto-Slavic *-a, from Proto-Indo-European *-ōd, the thematic ablative ending.
Suffix
-a (Cyrillic spelling -а)
- Forms the genitive singular of masculine and neuter nouns and indefinite adjectives.
Slovak
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Slavic *-ę.
Suffix
-a n
- Forms nouns for young animals and other diminutives.
Declension
Spanish
Suffix
-a
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From Latin -at, the third-person singular present active indicative ending of first conjugation verbs.
Suffix
-a
Derived terms
Etymology 3
From Latin -eam, Latin -am, and Latin -iam the first-person singular present active subjunctive endings of second, third, and fourth conjugation verbs, respectively; and from Latin -eat, Latin -at, and Latin -iat, the third-person singular present active subjunctive ending of second, third, and fourth conjugation verbs, respectively.
Suffix
-a
Derived terms
Etymology 4
From Latin -ā, the second-person singular present active imperative ending of first conjugation verbs.
Suffix
-a
- (Used to form the second-person singular imperative mood of -ar verbs.)
- hablar; ¡Habla! — “to talk; Talk!”
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Norse -a, from Proto-Germanic *-ōną.
Suffix
-a
- (on a positive adjective) Suffix to mark that the corresponding noun is either in plural or in definite singular form
- Marker of definiteness for noun plurals ending in -n (fourth declension).
- läten; lätena; "sounds; the sounds"
- A verb-building suffix that can be added to noun or adjectives, such as disk (“dishes”) → diska (“do the dishes”) or öl (“beer”) → öla (“to drink beer”)
- Create a noun from a numeral, such as tre (“three”) → trea (“a three; a bronze medalist; a three-room apartment”)
Usage notes
- On adjectives
- Traditionally, if the noun is in definite singular form it should not refer to a male human, if it uses the suffix -a. If it refers to such a person, the suffix should instead be -e, but one should note that this rule is not universally adhered to - in particular dialects of northern Sweden does not recognize the -e suffix at all, but use -a in all instances.
Conjugation
For weak verbs with a voiceless ending stem:
For weak verbs with a voiced ending stem:
Derived terms
Turkish
Alternative forms
Volapük
Suffix
-a
- A morpheme used to mark the genitive singular of a word (such as a noun, adjective or pronoun). It is also the most common morpheme used in creating innumerable compound words, some of which can be very long (e.g., pledadinaselidöp "toy store, toy shop", tanoganilamedin "antibiotic", taglumaladälamedin "anti-depressant", natrinakarbatazüd telik "bicarbonate of soda").
- Elaf Tyrannosaurus rex älifon in taledadil, kel nu binon dil Nolüda-Meropa.
- Tyrannosaurus rex lived in an area of the earth, which is now a part of North America.
- Buks binons stumem lärnazilana (/ lärnazilanastumem / stumem lärnazilanik).
- Books are a scholar's tools.
- Elaf Tyrannosaurus rex älifon in taledadil, kel nu binon dil Nolüda-Meropa.