A is for Aphids

These unusually red aphids are attacking a plant in Edwards Gardens, Toronto.

Vowel—vowel combinations
Read through the two lists, below, and note that it is the first letter in a vowel–vowel combination that dominates the pronunciation.

List 1

aa, aardvark

ae, aerate

ai, air

ao, aorta

au, auburn

List 2

aa, Aaron (boy’s name)

ea, meat

ia, striate

oa, float

ua, actual

Special reading assignment

1. “Ambition is putting a ladder against the sky.”                          —American proverb.

 

A is for Asparagus

In springtime, you can find asparagus for sale at the local greengrocer.

A is for alliteration
Alliteration repeats the same sound at the beginning of words close enough to produce a kind of rhyming effect. Usually, an alliteration features consonants rather than vowels, but with a little creativity, you can create an alliteration for a vowel.

Exercise

Practise alliterative sentences to strengthen your reading skills. The fun is to see how fast you can go. Here is an example:

An aardvark ate ants, on an African afternoon.

A is for Alvar

This alvar is near Ottawa, Ontario.

Alvars can be found around Canada’s National Capital Region.

Some letter combinations

─ae— is found in words derived from Latin and may have different pronunciations, depending on regional dialects.

Aesop (an ee sound)

palaeontology  (ee or A sound)

aerial (ai sound)

aesthetic (soft e sound)

─ar ─ The letter R may change the pronunciation (this is called an R-controlled vowel).

arch, arbour, archangel, argon, argument, ark, arm, art

Exceptions:  Arab, arid, arise, array, arrest, arrive

─au─  The au letter combination is not pronounced the same way each time. A diphthong is a way to slide a sound. Try these out.

auburn, auction, audio, August, aura, Australia, auto, automatic, autumn, because, caught, cause, clause, daughter, faucet, fault, Paul, sauce, taught, taut, vault

In some ─au─ words, this letter combination is not pronounced as a diphthong.

aunt, beautiful, quay (pronounced key)

The aw  and ay combinations are also diphthongs. Try these words.

─aw─

caw, claw, crawl, dawn, draw, flaw, gnaw, hawk, jaw, law, lawn, macaw, paw, pawn, raw, slaw, straw, thaw, Warsaw, yawn

─ay─

ay, aye (yes), ayah (Hindu nurse)

─air─ is a common combination in many words. Are these diphthongs?

chair, fair, hair, lair, pair, stair

Exception:  naïve [French]

─all─ is a common combination in many words.

all, allow, ball, fall, hall, small, wall

─alt─ is a common combination in many words.

alternate, cobalt, halt, malt, salt

─alk─ is a common combination in many words.

alkaline, chalk, stalk, talk, walk

Exercises

1. Read through the lists of words. Can you think of any more to add in each category?
2. Play with the words a little. Act them out. Write them up in the air using your left hand and your right. Write them down on paper.
3. Listen to your friends. Do they pronounce the letter a differently? Which words do they pronounce and how? What do you prefer?

Special reading assignment

An alvar is a limestone plain with little or no soil and unique vegetation.

A is for Another Ape

It’s time for a snack at the Toronto Zoo.

Suffixes

There are many suffixes that begin with the letter a. This table provides the meaning of each suffix and some examples.

─a  usually indicates a Latin noun in the singular.

agenda, diploma

─able creates an adjective, fit for doing or able to be.

adorable, capable, valuable

─ably creates an adverb, fit for doing or able to be.

adorably, inevitably, probably

—aceae used to form the names of plant families.

Aceraceae [maples]

─ade  creates a noun describing action done, something produced.

parade, blockade, lemonade

─ae  at the end of a scientific name, signals the taxonomic level, Family.

Falconidae [falcons], Picidae [woodpeckers]

─ae  at the end of a Latin noun: feminine, plural.

alumnae, algae

─al or  ─ally  creates an adjective or descriptor.

formal, formally

─an or ─ane  creates an adjective or descriptor.

reptilian, Anglican, urbane

─ance  creates a noun describing a quality, state, instance, or action.

arrogance, chance, trance

─ang  the past tense of verbs ending in ─ing.

ring, rang; sing, sang

—ant  creates an adjective that attributes an action or state.

expectant, flippant, pendant

—ant  creates a noun describing an agent of action.

assistant, deodorant

—arch  denotes a kind of ruler.

matriarch, monarch

─ate  resembling, having (or with) characteristics.

laminate, pontificate

—ative  of, relating to, or associated with.

talkative, narrative, sedative

Exercises

1. Are you able to think of how to use any of these suffixes as prefixes? Try to think of some words, e.g., anterior.

A is for Aster

Asters are like living asterisks.

You may see the similarity between an aster, an asterisk, and a star.

Another special character or symbol is the “at sign” (@), which we use most often in an e-mail address, e.g., janedoe@serviceprovider.com.

Traditionally, the at sign is used for listing prices in an inventory or invoice, and means “at the rate of”.

e.g., 5 apples @ .50 = $2.50.

A is for Ape

A young orangutan discovers water at the Toronto Zoo.

Prefixes

The meaning of the following common prefixes may help you both to understand words and to build them.

Prefixes

a— stands for on, in, or at

atop, alike

a— onward or away (especially for verbs of motion)

arise, awake

a— not or without

amoral, agnostic

a— to or into a state

agree, avenge

ab— off, away, or from

absent, abstain

ad— to, towards, addition, or change into

adapt, adhere, advance

aero— air or aviation

aerate, aerobics, aeroplane

al—, all— everyone or everything

all-day, all night, all-purpose, all right

almost, alone, already, also, altogether

al— to, towards, addition, or change into (similar to ad—)

alliterate, allocate, allotment, allow

an— without or not

anarchy, anorexia

an—  on, adjacent, or attached

ancestor, anchor, ankle

ambi— both, around, or uncertain

ambidextrous, ambiguous

ana— anew, again, up, or back

analyst, analogy

ante— before

antecedent, antedate

anti— opposite, against

antibody, anticlockwise

arch— superior

archbishop, archduke

Exercise

1. Can you think of more examples for each prefix?

A is for Apple Blossom

A crab apple tree in full blossom, a joy to all passers-by.

 A is for alphabetic.

There are many ways to organize things: alphabetic, numeric, alphanumeric, chronological, or by priority or importance.

To alphabetise means to put a list of things into alphabetic or alphanumeric order, letter-by-letter or word-by-word. Computers alphabetise lists automatically, placing special characters first, then numbers, then letter-by-letter. Computers may have a “stop list” of little words that don’t count, e.g., a, an, the, to. Dictionaries and phone books usually place special characters and numbers within the alphabet as if they were spelled out.

Letter by letter

Aida Coffee House, Aidan’s Gluten Free, Aidas Network, Aid to Women

Word by word

Aid to Women, Aida Coffee House, Aidan’s Gluten Free, Aidas Network

A is for Asterisk

 

A is for Asterisk

The asterisk (*) is a symbol or glyph used within a text to indicate a footnote, e.g., He always spoke of his sister, Anna*.

******************************************************************************

Sometimes a row of asterisks marks a new section of text, where a sub-heading is not appropriate and a blank line might be missed.

******************************************************************************

In comics and graphic novels, the asterisk is sometimes used with other odd symbols to spell out an oath, e.g., #@&*!

The word asterisk comes from the same root as star and aster, a flower of many petals.

 

* Anna’s real name was Anna-Marie.

 

A is for Apple

An apple a day…

A is for Alphabet

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

The word alphabet is derived from the Greek letters for A, alpha, and B, beta. The alphabet was created by a Semitic people living in Egypt around 1900 BC. Phoenicians and Hebrews adopted it, and then it spread to the Greeks and finally the Romans. Each culture changed it a little along the way.

The order of the alphabet is very important, both for finding words in the dictionary and for reading and making lists.

Writers practise reciting the alphabet the way musicians practise scales.

Some little A words

a

ace

act

age

air

ant

art

as

at

axe

Confusing A words

away, awarding, always, wayward

about, above, abuse

gap, gape

cad, cape

argue

Special reading assignment

1. “Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.”  —Bernard Baruch