Ą

From MedBib.com - Medicine & Nature

Ą (minuscule: ą) is a letter in the Polish, Kashubian, Lithuanian, Creek, Navajo, Western Apache, Chiricahua, Mescalero, Gwich'in, Tutchone, and Elfdalian alphabets. It is formed from the letter a and an ogonek and usually denotes a nasal a sound.

Polish

In Polish and Kashubian ą is right after a in the alphabet but it never appears at the start of a word.

Originally ą was a nasal a but in modern times the pronunciation of this vowel has shifted to a nasal o sound.

Unlike those in French, nasal vowels in Polish are asynchronous, meaning that they are pronounced as an oral vowel + a nasal semivowel, or a nasal vowel + a nasal semivowel. For instance, ą might be more accurately represented as [ɔw̃] but for the sake of simplicity, it is usually represented as /ɔ̃/.

Some examples,

• obowiązek ("duty", "obligation"), pronounced [ɔbɔˈvjɔ̃zɛk]
• robią ("They are making"), pronounced [ˈrɔbjɔ̃]
• wciąż ("still"), pronounced [ˈftɕɔ̃ʂ]

Before all stops and affricates, it is pronounced as an oral vowel + nasal consonant. The nasal consonant may be either m (before p or b) or n (all other cases). For example,

• kąpać ("to bathe") is pronounced [ˈkɔmpatɕ]
• pająk ("spider") is pronounced [ˈpajɔŋk]
• Bądź cierpliwy! ("Be patient!") is pronounced [ˈbɔɲtɕ]
• oglądając ("(by) watching") is pronounced [ɔglɔnˈdajɔnts]

History

Polish ą evolved from long nasal a of medieval Polish, which developed into a short nasal o in the modern language. This medieval vowel, along with its short counterpart, evolved in turn from the merged nasal *ę and *ǫ of Late Proto-Slavic.

Alternations

ą often alternates with ę, for example:

• tooth: ząb → zęby (teeth), thousand: tysiąc → tysięcy (thousands), snake: wąż → węże (snakes)
• husband in nominative: mąż → z mężem (with husband, in instrumental case)
• row in nominative: rząd → cztery razy z rzędu (four times in a row, in genitive case)
  

[but note that in words derived from rząd (government) the vowel does not change]
government in nominative: rząd → rozporządzenie rządu (government's ordinance, in genitive case)

• weight: ciężar → ciążyć (to weigh down, to be a burden), month: miesiąc → miesięczny (monthly)

Audio examples

• wąż (help·info) (snake)
• mąż (help·info) (husband)

Lithuanian

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

In Lithuanian, it formerly indicated a nasal a but the nasal quality has since been lost. In the modern language ą is pronounced as a long a.

The Americas

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

In some indigenous languages of the Americas, ą denotes a nasal a sound.

• Creek
• Navajo
• Western Apache
• Chiricahua
• Mescalero
• Gwich'in
• Tutchone

Elfdalian

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

Computer use

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (June 2008)

See also

• Ę
• Polish phonology
• Polish alphabet
• Ogonek

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