IN GRAMMATICAL FORMS. This same letter is used in a number of phrases and grammatical forms in English. In sonic of these it is the mutilated form of a fuller word. The first use to be noted is its employment beside an as an indefinite article; both forms, a, an, are weak ened from the A. S., fin, "one." in provincial dialects a ('a) appears as a pronominal form for he, etc.. as in quotha, "quoth he." Some times it thus stands for hal.c. It appears as a preposition for A. S., en, with a verbal noun in certain old phrases. as a-hunting, a-building : also for A.S., of in Jack-a-lantern, John a Gaunt ; and similarly as a prefix for A. S., on in asleep (A. S. on slwpr), away (A. S. on wag), for off in adown (A. S. of ddne) ; again intensive in a-thirst (A. S. of-thirst), it likewise stands for long (-( as a verbal prefix, arise (A. S. Orison), awake, and in ninny other phrases. The charac ter (1 is used in Swedish as a labialized guttural, like English O. See ALPHABET and ABBREVIA TIONS.
A. As a note in music, the major sixth of the scale C major. See KEY for A major and A minor.
Al. A symbol used in the classification of wooden ships by Lloyds Insurance A.•,*to•iation. The designation follows, as a result of examination of a ship by one of the Lloyds surveyors. The symbol Al denotes that hull and equipment of the ship in question are in good condition; the letter A standing for con struction and the numeral 1 for equipment; when the latter is inadequate the figure 2 is used. Should the symbol be preceded by figures, thus, ]2A1, it means that. the classification is good for 12 years. Al vessels may receive further exten sion of classification (1 to S years), and the symbol becomes 12-Al Cont. 6A1, which means original 12 year class continued 6 years. If later restored it would still be possible to remain in Al class with the following symbol: 12A1 Cont. GA]- Rest. 611. When a vessel has passed
the age for the character A, but is still found fit for conveying perishable goods to all parts of the world, it is registered A in red. Ships designated A in black form the third class, and are allowed to carry perishable goods on shorter voyages.
In classifying iron ships a broad A is used with numbers prefixed, those ships classed 100A to 90A inclusive requiring to be sur veyed every four years, and those classed S5A and under requiring a special survey every three years. The numerals referring to equipment are the same as for wooden ships. In the classi fication of the German Lloyds. Al refers to new wooden ships and repaired ships of equal quality; A denotes ships not equal to the for mer class. but yet of superior construction; the terms RI, B, CL and CR denote those of inferior construction. Iron and steel ships are designated by the characters A. A. A with the numerals 100, 95, 90. etc., prefixed (100 A for example), and referring to the structural strength. The number under the cross-arm of the A denotes the number of years that may elapse before the vessel must be resurveyed. All interesting account of the development of the methods of classification and surveying of the British Lloyds, as well as the history of the society itself. will he found in Annals of Lloyd's Register of British. and Foreign Shipping (Lon don, 188•). The rules for the building, equip ment and classification of ships are not given in the annual Register of Shipping, but are pub lished in four volumes, one for steel vessels, one for iron, one for wooden and com posite, and one for yachts.