# Continents, Countries, States with "A...a" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2001, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659 "2001-08-23T03:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LaToyota\_Corolla\_Falana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@LaToyota\_Corolla\_Falana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaToyota_Corolla_Falana)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/1 "2001-08-23T03:44:03Z")
How come so many continents, countries, states, etc. have names that start with A and end with A? For example, the continents: Asia, Antartica, America, Africa. Countries: Armenia, Argentina, Angola. States: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona. What is it about naming land so often with A…a? It cannot be by sheer chance - there must be a conspiracy to use all those A’s! and to what end? Is it an anomoly of the English language, or is it independant of native language? I’m glad Abba is not a country. But it could be next. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/2 "2001-08-23T03:55:44Z")
Albania, Algeria, Antigua… ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/3 "2001-08-23T04:03:30Z")
**-ia** is a latin suffix that means “country, province, or region of” Once yoi know that, it isn’t surprising to find that there really aren’t that many region names that begin with A and end with a by comparison. Look at a list of country names. Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Namibia, et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/4 "2001-08-23T04:14:06Z")
Nope, it’s definitely language related–particularly Indo-European. _-a_ was the common feminine singular ending in the Nominative case for Latin and Greek. This placed the _-a_ on several of the words. Then Spanish and Portuguese are Romance (_i.e._, derived from the Latin languange of the Romans) and they added a couple. Even Alaska is the Anglicized transliteration of the Russian name–and Russian is an Indo-European language, (the original Aleut word ended in a _k_ sound). Alabama _should_ have escaped that situation, as the Creek word ended in an _s_ sound, but the white settlers were so usd to ending their names in _-a_ by that time that they dropped the final _-s_. Then English tended to pick up the habit of using “latinized” spellings for words with those origins. For example, what we call Austria is known as Österreich on the streets of Salzburg. Since _-a_ is going to be the closing of a lot of names, it is simply coincidence that a certain number of them are going to also _begin_ with a _A_. (I will agree that the prevalence of A—a constructions for nearly all the continents is a bit weird. _You forgot Australia._) ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/5 "2001-08-23T04:15:13Z")
I guess I didn’t answer all of the question. The “ **-a** ” suffix indicate that the word is plural, referring to a land of people by the root of the name. For example: “Angola - Land of the Angolans” ---
**Author:** ![LaToyota\_Corolla\_Falana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e9c0ed/32.png) [@LaToyota\_Corolla\_Falana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaToyota_Corolla_Falana)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/6 "2001-08-23T04:19:54Z")
Alright, -ia means “country, province, or region of,” but when you eliminate all the lands that end with -ia, you still have a planetfull of A…a names. Alaska, Alabama, Arizona don’t seem to have -ia in them. America, Africa, Antartica, don’t have the -ia ending. OR, is -ica, -ska, -ama, -ona, all mutilations of -ia? Why all the states that start with A in the first place? How come the USA does not have a smattering of state names that start with E and end with e? Or start with I and end with I, or more than one that starts with O and ends with O? Or states that start with J and end with J. Anybody who watches Wheel of Fortune knows that the letter A is not the most common letter. Common letters are RSTE, etc. (or something like that). ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/7 "2001-08-23T04:30:47Z")
I believe the most common letters are [ETAOIN SHRDLU](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_262a.html), in that order. So A is number 3. And the A\_\_a thing gets really annoying when you play the game where each person names a place starting with the last letter of the previous place named. It gets stuck in an A rut for a while, until someone can think of something unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/8 "2001-08-23T04:35:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Anybody who watches Wheel of Fortune knows that the letter A is not the most common letter. Common letters are RSTE, etc. (or something like that). \*\* Maybe you shouldn’t rely too much on Wheel of Fortune for your every-day language needs. A, being a vowel, is a pretty common letter. Names ending in -a is not at all rare. It’s a suffix, as mentioned already (along with -ia, etc.). Now all you need is a word that begins with the letter a. Again, this is not a rarity. Put the two together and we have an uncanny coincidence. Well, not really. Just a coincidence. There are also plenty of places that begin with a C and end with an -a: China, Croatia, Colombia, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cambodia, California, Canberra, etc. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/9 "2001-08-23T04:37:34Z")
See my earlier post about the “a” suffix. An “a” prefix can also indicate possession, i.e. “from”. **-ica** is another matter. I’m no Latin scholar, but I believe it means something like “the study of”. I suppose it could be a variation of **-ia**. I beleive the similarity in continent names refers to direction. Asia - from the east Africa - from the southwest Australia - from the south Antarctica - from the southern pole America - a variation of Amerigo, so the legend goes. I’ll have to do some research, but I believe our resident latin scholars will pop in before too long. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/10 "2001-08-23T04:52:28Z")
Those of us born in the Buckeye State know those O’s are just for looks. It may be spelled “Ohio,” but it’s pronounced “Ahia.” ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/11 "2001-08-23T04:59:32Z")
Suspicions confirmed at the [Take Our Word For It](http://www.takeourword.com/Issue052.html) newsletter, differing only on Africa. Europe is of Greek of origin. Sorry to clutter up the thread, folks. I think the “A…a” names boil down to a combination of suffixes and prefixes which can be expressed thusly: 1. if it’s got an “a” in front of it, it probably indicates the possessive “from” 2. if it ends in “ia”, it refers to a country or region 3. if it ends in “a” it’s plural and refers to a group of people rather than a geographic area. There are exceptions, of course: Alaska, America, I’m sure others will follow. I’ve taken a stab at it, anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/12 "2001-08-23T06:11:14Z")
Lots of time when people name a company they want it to be at the top of listings, as in the yellow pages. I once knew of a furniture manufacturer named Aardvark Furn. Everyone has known of a company named A1 or AAA. So using that line of thinking all these countries, states, etc. would get top listing whether you spell them forwards or backwards. ---
**Author:** ![discombobulator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@discombobulator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/discombobulator)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/13 "2001-08-23T06:43:45Z")
Here’s a question for you: Is Australasia considered a continent or is my encyclopedia wrong in calling it one? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/14 "2001-08-23T08:10:43Z")
evilhanz says: Asia - from the east Africa - from the southwest Antarctica - from the southern pole Can you tell me where you got this from? ---
**Author:** ![tavalla](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tavalla/32/89_2.png) [@tavalla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tavalla)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/15 "2001-08-23T09:44:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by discombobulator \* > \*\*Here’s a question for you: Is Australasia considered a continent or is my encyclopedia wrong in calling it one? \*\* Australia is a continent. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/16 "2001-08-23T09:53:12Z")
Nobody’s mentioned Alberta or Atlanta. In those two cases the -a is a feminine ending. Oh yes, the Al- of Algeria is, I believe, the definite article in Arabic. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/17 "2001-08-23T09:59:08Z")
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru… ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/18 "2001-08-23T12:40:41Z")
“Antarctica” got his name from “Arctic” (the north pole region) and the prefix “anti”, meaning “against” or “opposite”; it’s simply on the other end of the world than the Arctic, which got its name from _arktos_, Greek for “bear”, referring to the twon Bear constellations in the northern sky. “Australia” was named AFAIK by Cook as an allusion to the legendary Terra Australis continent ---
**Author:** ![\_Twitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/3d9bf3/32.png) [@\_Twitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Twitch)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/19 "2001-08-23T12:56:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tavalla \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by discombobulator \* > > \*\*Here’s a question for you: Is Australasia considered a continent or is my encyclopedia wrong in calling it one? \*\* > > Australia is a continent. \*\* Australia is a country, Australasia is the continent it’s on. ---
**Author:** ![evilhanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba8739/32.png) [@evilhanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilhanz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659/20 "2001-08-23T12:57:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*evilhanz says: > Asia - from the east > Africa - from the southwest > Antarctica - from the southern pole > > Can you tell me where you got this from? \*\* I admitted that I was going from memory there. I checked other sources and followed up with a link that said essetnially the same thing (read the link I submitted following that post): **Asia** - from the Assyrian “asu” which literally means “sunrise” - indicating east **Africa** - I was slightly off on this one. If comes from an Arabic word for “afar” which the Romans coopted. To them Africa meant what is currently referred to as Tunisia which is southwest of Rome. Actually, the Romans called the whole continent of Africa “Ethiopia”. **Australia** - a shortening of Terre Australis - land to south **Antarctica** - Arctic was originally a of Greek origin that meant “bear” and referred to the northern wastes.“Ant-” means opposite of. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/continents-countries-states-with-a-a/77659.md?page=2)