á

See also: Appendix:Variations of "a"

á U+00E1, á LATIN SMALL LETTER A WITH ACUTE Composition: a [U+0061] + ◌́ [U+0301] ← à [U+00E0] Latin-1 Supplement â → [U+00E2]

Contents

Translingual

Letter

á (upper case Á)

1. The letter a with an acute accent.

See also

• (Latin script):  Aa  Bb  Cc  Dd  Ee  Ff  Gg  Hh  Ii  Jj  Kk  Ll  Mm  Nn  Oo  Pp  Qq  Rr  Sſs  Tt  Uu  Vv  Ww  Xx  Yy  Zz
• (Variations of letter A):   Áá  Àà  Ââ  Ǎǎ  Ăă  Ãã  Ảả  Ȧȧ  Ạạ  Ää  Åå  Ḁḁ  Āā  Ąą  ᶏ  Ⱥⱥ  Ȁȁ  Ấấ  Ầầ  Ẫẫ  Ẩẩ  Ậậ  Ắắ  Ằằ  Ẵẵ  Ẳẳ  Ặặ  Ǻǻ  Ǡǡ  Ǟǟ  Ȁȁ  Ȃȃ  Ɑɑ  ᴀ  Ɐɐ  ɒ  Ａａ Ææ  Ǽǽ  Ǣǣ  Ꜳꜳ  Ꜵꜵ  Ꜷꜷ  Ꜹꜹ  Ꜻꜻ
• (Letters using acute accent or double acute accent):  Áá  Ắắ  Ấấ  Ǻǻ  Ćć  Ḉḉ  Éé  Ếế  Ǵǵ  Íí  Ḯḯ  Ḱḱ  Ĺĺ  Ḿḿ  Ńń  Óó  Őő  Ớớ  Ṍṍ  Ǿǿ  Ṕṕ  Ŕŕ  Śś  Úú  Űű  Ứứ  Ẃẃ  Ýý  Źź  Ǽǽ

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Czech

Letter

á (lower case, upper case Á)

1. The second letter of the Czech and Slovak alphabet, after a and before b

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Faroese

Dalsá í Gásadali

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɔaː]
• Rhymes: -ɔaː

Etymology 1

Long Old Norse /a/. Often written as ā or normalized á or even aa, compare Swedish, Danish, Norwegian å.

Noun

á (upper case Á)

1. The second letter of the Faroese alphabet, written in the Latin script.

See also

• (Latin-script letters) bókstavur; A a, Á á, B b, D d, Рð, E e, F f, G g, H h, I i, Í í, J j, K k, L l, M m, N n, O o, Ó ó, P p, R r, S s, T t, U u, Ú ú, V v, Y y, Ý ý, Æ æ, Ø ø

Etymology 2

From Old Norse á (“river”), Svabo: Aa, from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water”).

Noun

á f (genitive singular áar, plural áir)

1. brook, stream, river

Usage notes

• (poetry):
  áir renna vakrar har ― the rivers flow beautiful there
• áirnar standa á svølgi ― the rivers stand on deep water
  (= it's raining a lot) (compare áarføri)
• um áir og gjáir ― over rivers and gorges
  (= to travel a long way)
• fara yvir um á(nna) eftir vatni ― go over the river in order to get water
  (= to look for unnecessary struggle)
• tað gekk sum eftir ánni ― it went like after the river
  (= it was very easy)
• ganga / fara í áir ― go to the river in order to fish trouts
  (described in Føroysk orðabók 1998 as local usage in the island of Vágar about fishing trouts in a lake)

Declension

Declension of á
f2 (á)	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	á	áin	áir	áirnar
accusative	á	ánna	áir	áirnar
dative	á	ánni	áum	áunum
genitive	áar	áarinnar	áa	áanna

Synonyms

• (brook): løkur

Etymology 3

From Old Norse á (“on, onto, in, at”).

Preposition

á

1. (with accusative) on, onto, to, near, beside
2. (with accusative, fjords, bays, harbours) to
3. (with dative) on, in, at
4. (with dative, place names) in
5. (with dative, fjords, bays, harbours) at, in
6. (with dative, seafaring and fishery) at

Usage notes

The preposition 'á' is used with accusative case if the verb shows movement from one place to another, whereas it is used with dative case if the verb shows location. This is the same usage as with German auf:

Governing accusative

• legg bókina á borðið ― place the book on the table
• hann fer umborð á skipið ― he goes aboard the ship
• skriva á talvuna ― to write on the blackboard
• fara á fjall ― to go into the mountains

with fjords, bays, harbours

• skipið kom á Vestmanna ― the ship came to Vestmanna
• skipið kom á Havnina ― the ship came to Tórshavn

Governing dative

• bókin liggur á borðinum ― the book is on the table
• hann er umborð á skipinum ― he is aboard the ship
• tað stendur á talvuni ― this stands on the blackboard
• vera á fjalli ― to be in the mountains
  (in order to roundup the sheep)

Place names (antonym: av)

• á Eiði ― in Eiði
• á Glyvrum ― in Glyvrar
• á Húsum ― in Húsar
• á Kirkju ― in Kirkja
• á Skála ― in Skáli
• á Velbastað ― in Velbastaður
• á bygd ― in the village (countryside)

with fjords, bays, harbours

• skipið lá á Havnini ― the ship lays in Tórshavn

with seafaring and fishery

• vera á útróðri ― to be fishing (with a rowing boat)

Etymology 4

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

á!

1. oh!
2. animal sound of the puffin (lundi)

lundin sigur á á á

the puffin says "oh oh oh"

Etymology 5

From Old Norse [Term?].

Verb

á

1. archaic third-person present of eiga

References

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Galician

Etymology 1

From contraction of preposition a (“to, towards”) + feminine definite article a (“the”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [aː]

Contraction

á f (masculine ao, masculine plural aos, feminine plural ás)

1. to the, towards the

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese aa, from Latin ala. Compare Portuguese á. Doublet of ala.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈa]

Noun

á f (plural ás)

1. wing
   • c1350, K. M. Parker (ed.), Historia Troyana. Santiago: Instituto "Padre Sarmiento", page 30:

     et as de leychuza

     and wings of an owl

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Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /auː/
• Rhymes: -auː

Etymology 1

From Old Norse á (“river”), from Proto-Germanic *ahwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water”). Compare Danish å, Norwegian å, Swedish å.

Noun

á f (genitive singular ár, nominative plural ár)

1. river

   Synonym: fljót

Declension

declension of á

f-s1	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	á	áin	ár	árnar
accusative	á	ána	ár	árnar
dative	á	ánni	ám	ánum
genitive	ár	árinnar	áa	ánna

Etymology 2

Inflection of á.

Noun

á f

1. indefinite accusative singular of á
2. indefinite dative singular of á

Etymology 3

Inflection of ær.

Noun

á f

1. indefinite accusative singular of ær
2. indefinite dative singular of ær

Etymology 4

Conjugation of eiga.

Verb

á

1. first-person singular present indicative of eiga I own.
2. third-person singular present indicative of eiga He owns.

Etymology 5

Interjection

á!

1. ow! ouch!

   Á! Þetta var vont!

   Ouch! That hurt!

Etymology 6

From Old Norse á, from Proto-Norse ᚨᚾ (an), from Proto-Germanic *ana.

Preposition

á

1. (with dative, with accusative) on

   Hvar eru lyklarnir? - Þeir eru á borðinu.

   Where are the keys? - They are on the table.

2. (with dative, with accusative) in

   Ég bý á Íslandi.

   I live in Iceland.

   Hvað heitir þetta á íslensku?

   What’s this called in Icelandic?

Derived terms

• bera kápuna á báðum öxlum
• bíta á jaxlinn
• draga á tálar
• færa sönnur á
• hafa nóg á sinni könnu
• heill á húfi
• hlaupa á glæ
• hæla á hvert reipi
• kasta á glæ
• kyssa á hönd
• káfa á
• kýla á
• leggja á
• leggja á minnið
• leita á
• líta niður á
• líta snöggvast á
• lítast á
• líta á
• líta á með vanþóknun
• minnast á
• peningar vaxa ekki á trjám
• skella á
• spila á
• standa eins og stafur á bók
• stara eins og naut á nývirki
• súpa á
• togast á um
• vel á minnst
• vera á bandi
• á eftir
• á fjórum fótum
• á næstu grösum

 

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑː/

Etymology 1

From dhá, lenited variant of dá.

Pronoun

á (triggers lenition in the masculine singular, h-prothesis in the feminine singular, and eclipsis in the plural)

1. him, her, it, them (used before the verbal noun in the progressive to indicate a third person direct object)

   Táim á bhualadh. ― I am hitting him.

   Táim á ól.

   I am drinking it (referring to a masculine noun, e.g. bainne (“milk”)).

   Táim á bualadh. ― I am hitting her.

   Táim á hól.

   I am drinking it (referring to a feminine noun, e.g. bláthach (“buttermilk”)).

   Táim á mbualadh. ― I am hitting them.

   Táim á n-ól. ― I am drinking them.

2. used as a quasi-reflexive pronoun in a sentence with passive semantics

   Tá an buachaill á bhualadh.

   The boy is being hit (literally ‘The boy is at his hitting’).

   Tá an chloch á tógáil ag Séamas.

   The stone is being lifted by Séamas (literally ‘The stone is at its lifting by Séamas’).

Alternative forms

• agá, ’gá, ’ghá (obsolete)

Related terms

• a
• ag
• do

 

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Interjection

á!

1. ah!

Etymology 3

Letter

á

1. The letter a with an acute accent.

Further reading

• "á" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “á” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “á” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

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Mandarin

Romanization

á (Zhuyin ㄚˊ)

1. Pinyin transcription of 啊
2. Pinyin transcription of 嗄

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Min Nan

Etymology 1

Conjunction

á (POJ)

1. introduces an alternative or a word that explains or means the same

Particle

á (POJ, traditional and simplified 仔)

1. a diminutive suffix for nouns, adjectives or quantities

   囡仔 [Min Nan]  ―  gín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  child

   小叔仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-chek-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brother-in-law (husband's younger brother)

   勻勻仔 / 匀匀仔 [Min Nan]  ―  ûn-ûn-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  slowly

   小可仔 [Min Nan]  ―  sió-khóa-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  a little bit

   歌仔戲 / 歌仔戏  ―  gēzǐxì  ―  Taiwanese opera

2. a suffix that converts a verb or adjective into a noun

   抿仔 [Min Nan]  ―  bín-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  brush

   矮仔 [Min Nan]  ―  é-á [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  shorty

3. a suffix placed after a name or title, used endearingly, humorously or pejoratively

Synonyms

• (Mandarin) 子 (zǐ)

Etymology 2

For pronunciation and definitions of á – see 猶 (“still; yet”). (This character, á, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 猶.)

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Old Irish

Etymology 1

Determiner

á (3rd person possessive) (triggers lenition in the masculine and neuter singular, an unwritten prothetic /h/ in the feminine singular, and eclipsis in the plural)

1. Alternative form of a
   • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 90b12

     Mad·genatar á thimthirthidi.

     Blessed are his servants.

   • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 144d3

     Nach torbatu coitchenn ro·boí indib fri denum n-uilc at·rubalt tar hesi á pectha.

     Every common advantage that had been in them for doing evil has perished for their sin.

Etymology 2

Particle

á (triggers lenition)

1. Alternative form of a
   • c. 875, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 53c11

     in tan as·mbeir, Tait, á maccu

     when he says, "Come, O sons"

Etymology 3

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁óh₃s.

Noun

á

1. mouth

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
á	unchanged	n-á
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

C. Marstrander, E. G. Quin et al., editors (1913–76), “á”, in Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, →ISBN

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Old Norse

á

Alternative forms

• ǫ́

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *ahwō (“water, stream”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ekʷeh₂ (“water”). Cognate with Old English ēa, Old Frisian ā, ē, Old Saxon aha, Old High German aha, Gothic 𐌰𐍈𐌰 (aƕa).

Noun

á f (genitive ár, plural ár)

1. river

Declension

  Declension of á (strong ō-stem, ar and ir-plurals)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	á	áin	ár, áir	árnar, áirnar
accusative	á	ána	ár, áir	árnar, áirnar
dative	á	ánni	ám	ánum
genitive	ár	árinnar	á	ánna

Descendants

• Icelandic: á
• Faeroese: á
• Norwegian: å
• Old Swedish: ā
  • Swedish: å
• Old Danish: ā
  • Danish: å
• → Middle English: a, aa

Etymology 2

From Proto-Norse ᚨᚾ (an), from Proto-Germanic *ana (“on, onto”). Cognate with Old English on, Old Frisian on, Old Saxon ana, an, Old Dutch ana, an, in, Old High German ana, an, Gothic 𐌰𐌽𐌰 (ana).

Preposition

á

1. (with dative) on

   Þeir eru á hólmi.

   They are on an island.

2. (with dative) in

   Ek bý á Islandi.

   I live in Iceland.

Descendants

• Danish: å, på
• Faroese: á
• Icelandic: á

• Norwegian:
  • Bokmål: på
  • Nynorsk: å, på
• Swedish: å, på

Etymology 3

Probably related to Old Norse æ (“always”)

Adverb

á (not comparable)

1. always

Etymology 4

An imitation of a cry of pain.

Interjection

á

1. ow! ouch!

Descendants

• Icelandic: á

Etymology 5

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

á

1. first-person singular present indicative of eiga: ‘I own’.
2. third-person singular present indicative of eiga: ‘he owns’.

Etymology 6

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

á

1. accusative singular of ær
2. dative singular of ær
3. genitive plural of ær

Etymology 7

See the etymology of the main entry.

Noun

á

1. accusative singular of ái
2. dative singular of ái
3. genitive singular of ái
4. genitive plural of ái

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Old Portuguese

Alternative forms

• a

Etymology

From Latin illa f (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a/

Article

á

1. feminine singular of o
   • 13th century, attributed to Alfonso X of Castile, Cantigas de Santa Maria, To codex, cantiga 5 (facsimile):

     Eſta ·xviiii· é como ſṫa maria aiudou · á emperadriz de roma · a ſofrer as grãdes coitaſ per que paſſou.

     This 19th is (about) how Holy Mary helped the empress of Rome suffer through the great pains she underwent.

Descendants

• Fala: a
• Galician: a
• Portuguese: a

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Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Audio (BR)

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈa/
• Homophones: à, a, há, ah

Etymology 1

From Latin ā.

Alternative forms

• a
• A
• Á

Noun

á m (plural ás)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter A.

Derived terms

• á-bê-cê

Etymology 2

From Old Portuguese aa (“wing”), from Latin āla (“wing”). Cognate with Galician á, Spanish ala, Catalan ala, Occitan ala, French aile, Italian ala and Ligurian âa. Doublet of ala, which was a borrowing.

Noun

á f (plural ás)

1. (archaic, usually in the plural) wing

Synonyms

• (wing): asa, ala

References

• “aa” in Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval.

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Spanish

Preposition

á

1. Obsolete spelling of a

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Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔaː˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔaː˨˩˦]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [ʔaː˦˥]
• Homophone: Á

Etymology 1

Noun

á

1. The name of the Latin-script letter Ă.

Etymology 2

Sino-Vietnamese word from 亞 (“sub-”)

Prefix

á

1. secondary

   á hậu

   a beauty pageant runner-up

   Mạnh Tử được mệnh danh là á thánh, sau Khổng Tử.

   Mencius is known as the secondary sage, second only to Confucius.

2. semi-; demi-

   á kim

   a metalloid

   á thần

   a demigod