阿

A1
#471 most
frequent character
abbr. for country names that begin with 阿[a1]: Algeria 阿爾及利亞|阿尔及利亚[A1er3ji2li4ya4], Afghanistan 阿富汗[A1fu4han4] etc

Character breakdown

Source: Make Me a Hanzi.

阿 has a meaning part that pictures a series of hills, and 可 kě supplies the sound. Read ē, it first meant 'a high mound or mountain.' Read ā, the uses 'name prefix' and 'transliteration' were borrowed for their sound.

阿 as a component in other characters

sound4 characters
啊婀锕屙

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Same Characters, Different Readings

阿ā
prefix used before monosyllabic names, kinship terms etc to indicate familiarity
阿ē
(literary) to flatter

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