अ

a

1) the first letter of the alphabet;

the first short vowel inherent in consonants
- अकार-
2) (pragṛihya q.v.), a vocative particle <aananta, O Vishṇu> T. ;
interjection of pity, Ah!
3) (before a vowel an, exc. a-ṛiṇin),
prefix corresponding to Gk. ἀ, ἀν, Lat. in, Goth. andﾠ Germ. un, Eng. in orﾠ un,
andﾠ having a negative orﾠ privative orﾠ contrary sense
(an-eka not one;
an-anta endless;
a-sat not good;
a-paṡyat not seeing);
rarely prefixed to Inf.
a-svaptum not to sleep TāṇḍyaBr. andﾠ even to forms of the finite verb (a-spṛihayanti they do not desire BhP. Ṡiṡ. )
andﾠ to pronouns (a-saḥ not he Ṡiṡ. ;
a-tad not that BhP. );
occasionally denoting comparison (a-brāhmaṇa like a Brahman T. );
sometimes disparagement (a-yajña a miserable sacrifice);
sometimes diminutiveness (cf. á-karṇa, an-udarā);
rarely an expletive (cf. a-kupya, a-pūpa)
According to Pāṇ. 6-2, 161 , the accent may be optionally either on the first orﾠ last syllable in certain compounds formed with a
(as á-tīkshṇa orﾠ a-tīkshṇá, á-ṡuci orﾠ a-ṡucí, án-anna orﾠ an-anná);
the same applies to stems ending in tṛi accentuated on the first syllable before a is prefixed;
cf. alsoﾠ á-tūrta andﾠ a-tū́rta, á-bhinna andﾠ a-bhinná, etc.
4) the base of some pronouns andﾠ pronom. forms, in asya, atra, etc.
5) the augment prefixed to the root in the formation of the imperfect, aorist, andﾠ conditional tenses
(in the Veda often wanting, as in Homer, the fact being that originally the augment was only prefixed in principal sentences where it was accentuated, whilst it was dropped in subordinate sentences where the root-vowel took the accent)
6) m. N. of Vishnu L. (especially as the first of the three sounds in the sacred syllable om)
- अऋणिन्