| 释义 |
-a, suffix
from various sources.
1. OE. -a (:—early Teut. -o) nom. ending of masc. -n stem nouns, and foreign words associated with them, as ox-a, ass-a (L. asinŏ-), drac-a (L. dracōn-). This -a became in ME. -e, as ox-e, ass-e, drak-e; in mod. E. dropped, or preserved only as a spelling expedient, ox, ass, drake (= dreik). Hence a com. ending of OE. names and titles of men, as in Ida, Ella, Offa, Ceadda (Chad), Bæda (Bede), Bretwalda.
2. Gr. and L. -a, nom. ending of fem. nouns of first decl., some of which have been adopted unchanged, as idea, chimæra, basilica, area, arena, camera, corolla, formula, lamina, peninsula; and esp. Nat. Hist. terms (often med. or mod.L.) as alumina, ammonia, soda; alga, asafœtida, calceolaria, campanula, dahlia, fuchsia, lobelia; hyæna, boa, cicada, salpa, amœba; and geog. as Africa, Asia, Corsica, Malta. Also proper names of women, as Diana, Lydia, Julia, Maria, Aurora, Anna, Ada, Sophia, Victoria; latinized forms of OE. names, as Hilda (Hild), Godiva (Godᵹifu), Elfrida (ælfþryð), Ethelburga (æðelburᵹ); med. or mod. female names formed on male names, as Louis-a, Joann-a, Albert-a, Alexandr-a, Robin-a, Carol-in-a, Georg-in-a, Henri-ett-a. (L. names of women and places remain unchanged, except when the Fr. form has been adopted, as Maria, Marie, Mary; Italia, Italie, Italy; Diana, Diane, Dian (arch.); Eurōpa, Europe; Africa, Afrique, Afric (arch.); Græcia, Grèce, Greece; India, Inde, Ind (arch.); Hispania, Espayne, Spain.)
3. Mod. Rom. (It., Sp., Pg.) -a, ending of fem. nouns, as lava, opera, piazza, regatta, sonata, stanza, tufa, umbrella; armada, flotilla, mantilla, peseta, vanilla; hence in proper names of women, as Isabella, Berengaria, Eva; and occasionally a sex-suffix, as don, donn-a, duenn-a; signor, -a; amoros-o, -a; infant-e, -a; sultan, -a; tzar, tzar-in-a.
4. Gr. and L. -a, plural ending of neuter nouns, some of which have been adopted unchanged, as phenomen-on, -a; strat-um, -a; dat-um, -a; miasma, -ta; genus, gener-a; hence frequent in (mod.) L. plural names of classes of animals, as Mammali-a, Amphibi-a, Crustace-a, Mollusc-a, Protozo-a, Quadruman-a, Cetace-a, Macrur-a, of which the sing. is variously supplied by Mammal, Mollusc, Quadruman, Crustacean, Amphibian, etc.
5. Repr. colloq. or dial. pronunc. of:
a. do, as whatta you want? (see whaddaya), etc.;
b. have (see a v. b);
c. of (see a prep.2 1);
d. to, as gotta, oughta, wanna, etc. |