A

Also known as Ey, Alfa, Alpha, alfa, alpha

A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is a (pronounced ), plural aes.

AI overview

The letter "A" is the first letter of the Latin alphabet and the first vowel used in English and many other languages around the world. It matters because it's a fundamental building block of written communication, appearing at the start of countless words and serving as one of the basic symbols people learn when they begin to read and write.

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Key facts

Grapheme.fam7: class=skin-invert-image|20px|Early Latin Aclass=skin-invert-image|20px|Latin 300 AD uncial, version 1
Grapheme.usageperiod: present
Grapheme.associates: a(x), ae, eau, au
Grapheme.direction: Left-to-right
Grapheme.image: Latin_letter_A.svg
Grapheme.imageclass: skin-invert-image
Grapheme.letter: A a
Grapheme.script: Latin script
Grapheme.type: Alphabet
Grapheme.typedesc: ic
Grapheme.language: Latin language
Grapheme.fam2: class=skin-invert-image|20px|Proto-Sinaitic 'alp
Grapheme.unicode: U+0041, U+0061
Grapheme.alphanumber: 1
Grapheme.fam1: 𓃾
Grapheme.fam3: class=skin-invert-image|20px|Proto-Caananite aleph
Grapheme.fam4: class=skin-invert-image|20px|Phoenician aleph
Grapheme.fam5: Α α

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Wikidata facts

Image: Semaphore Alpha.svg

Show 4 more facts

Commons category: A
Commons gallery: A
code: Alfa
braille transcription: ⠁

Sources (6)

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Article

20 sections

Contents

Name
History
Typographic variants
Use in writing systems
Pronunciation
English
Other languages
Other systems
Other uses
Related characters
Latin alphabet
Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations
Ancestor and sibling letters
Other representations
Computing <span class="anchor" id="Computing codes"></span>
Other
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links

A (minuscule: a) is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is a (pronounced as in say), plural aes.

It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey |a| and single-storey |ɑ|. The latter form is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.