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Alpha privative

An alpha privative or, rarely, privative a (from Latin , from Ancient Greek ) is the prefix a- or an- (before vowels) that is used in Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit and Greek and in words borrowed therefrom to express negation or absence, for example the English words of Greek origin atypical, anesthetic, and analgesic, as well as the English word of Sanskrit origin ahimsa (ahinsa). It is derived from a Proto-Indo-European syllabic nasal , the zero ablaut grade of the negation , i.e. /n/ used as a vowel. For this reason, it usually appears as before vowels (e.g. an-alphabetism, an-esthesia, an-archy). It shares the same root with the Greek prefix or , in Greek or , that is also privative (e.g. ). It is not to be confused with, among other things, an alpha copulative (e.g. a-delphós) or the prefix (i.e. the preposition with ecthlipsis or elision of its final vowel before a following vowel; e.g. ).

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An alpha privative or, rarely, privative a (from Latin , from Ancient Greek ) is the prefix a- or an- (before vowels) that is used in Indo-European languages such as Sanskrit and Greek and in words borrowed therefrom to express negation or absence, for example the English words of Greek origin atypical, anesthetic, and analgesic, as well as the English word of Sanskrit origin ahimsa (ahinsa). It is derived from a Proto-Indo-European syllabic nasal , the zero ablaut grade of the negation , i.e. /n/ used as a vowel. For this reason, it usually appears as before vowels (e.g. an-alphabetism, an-esthesia, an-archy). It shares the same root with the Greek prefix or , in Greek or , that is also privative (e.g. ). It is not to be confused with, among other things, an alpha copulative (e.g. a-delphós) or the prefix (i.e. the preposition with ecthlipsis or elision of its final vowel before a following vowel; e.g. ).

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