aardvark, a-, Afrikaans, aah, aardwolf

A's:

     The letter "a" has 82 pages, as opposed to the logical starting place that I have previously read: the letter "z" which has a meager 3 1/2 pages. 

     I had mentioned that the last z word is not “zygote” but rather, eight words later, “zymosan,” which is a chemical that is part of a yeast’s cell wall.   Similarly, the first word of the dictionary is not Aardvark but the letter “a” with 22 definitions. 

aardvark (Afrikaans, aard earth, vark pig)

   Mother Earth?  In Afrikaans: Moeder Aarde (ahr’ deh)

     The word aardvark is the tenth entry in the dictionary.  I think it is a fascinating word because it derives from Afrikaans…and means “earth pig.”   Africaans is spoken by 13% of South Africans and is derived from Dutch (a Germanic language) which was spoken by some of the original settlers in South Africa in the 1600's.  It also has words that have originated from Banto and Malaysia. 

a  - this simple letter has, by my count, 22 uses and definitions listed. 

For example,

   -the sixth tone in a scale  (not “a” sixth tone in a scale)

   -the highest grade

   -“of”  (birds of a feather)

   - “for each” (five dollars a dozen)

    -“have” (I might a had one)

   -“of” (attached as a suffix; kinda, lotta)

   “without (asexual)

   “in” (abed)

     “a” precedes a noun with a consonant (a cat, a dog) whereas “an” precedes a noun with a vowel (an apple)…except if the vowel sounds like a consonant (a union).

How many words that start with "aa" are there? 

     Four: aah, aardvark, aardwolf, Aaron