阿
ā
abbr. for country names that begin with 阿[a1]: Algeria 阿爾及利亞|阿尔及利亚[A1 er3 ji2 li4 ya4], Afghanistan 阿富汗[A1 fu4 han4] etc
prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity; used in transliteration; also pr. [a4]
place (阝) + sound of 可 = familiar prefix and transliteration sound
可 gives the sound ā/à; the 阝 radical here represents a mound or place, hinting at a geographic or relational anchor. In practice, 阿 is used almost entirely for its sound — as a friendly prefix before names or as a transliteration syllable.
她叫阿花，是我从小一起长大的朋友。
tā jiào ā huā, shì wǒ cóng xiǎo yī qǐ zhǎng dà de péng yǒu。
She is called A-Hua; she is a friend I grew up with from childhood.
阿富汗在亚洲，那里的历史很悠久。
ā fù hàn zài yà zhōu, nà lǐ de lì shǐ hěn yōu jiǔ。
Afghanistan is in Asia; its history is very long.
Words with 阿
阿尔伯特
ā ěr bó tè
Albert (name)
阿穆尔河
ā mù ěr hé
same as 黑龍江|黑龙江[Hei1 long2 jiang1]
阿拉法特
ā lā fǎ tè
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini (1929-2004), Palestinian leader, popularly known as Yasser Arafat 亞西爾·阿拉法特|亚西尔·阿拉法特[Ya4 xi1 er3 · A1 la1 fa3 te4]
阿里巴巴
ā lǐ bā bā
Ali Baba, character from The Arabian Nights
阿卜杜拉
ā bǔ dù lā
Abdullah (name)
阿司匹林
ā sī pǐ lín
(loanword) aspirin
阿拉善左旗
ā lā shàn zuǒ qí
Alxa Left Banner, Mongolian Alshaa Züün khoshuu, in Alxa League 阿拉善盟[A1 la1 shan4 Meng2], Inner Mongolia (formerly in Gansu 1969-1979)
阿尔卡特
ā ěr kǎ tè
Alcatel, old company name
阿萨德
ā sà dé
Assad (Arabic name)
麦克阿瑟
mài kè ā sè
General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), US commander in Pacific during WW2, sacked in 1951 by President Truman for exceeding orders during the Korean war
阿斯匹林
ā sī pǐ lín
aspirin (loanword) (variant of 阿司匹林[a1 si1 pi3 lin2])
阿布哈兹
ā bù hā zī
Abkhazia