阿

ā

阿 — ā

1. Abbreviation used for country names that begin with 'A' (e.g. 阿尔及利亚 Algeria, 阿富汗 Afghanistan).

   新闻中常用阿来指代阿富汗。 xīnwén zhōng chángyòng ālái zhǐdài āfùhàn — In the news, 'A' is often used to refer to Afghanistan.

阿 — ē

1. Prefix placed before monosyllabic personal names, kinship terms, or nicknames to indicate familiarity or affection; used in transliteration (common spoken usage).

   朋友们常叫他阿强。 péngyǒu men cháng jiào tā ā qiáng — Friends often call him 'A-Qiang' (Ah Qiang).

2. Variant pronunciation [a4] in some dialects for the same prefix usage.

   在山东方言里，人们把哥哥叫成阿哥。 zài shāndōng fāngyán lǐ rénmen bǎ gēgē jiào chéng āgē — In the Shandong dialect, people call their older brother 'a-ge'.