The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it ("a")
Both derive from the majuscule (capital) form
In Greek handwriting, it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown
Many fonts then made the right leg vertical
In some of these, the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form
Graphic designers refer to the Italic and Roman forms as "single decker a" and "double decker a" respectively
Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest (set in Roman type)
There are some other cases aside from italic type where script a ("ɑ"), also called Latin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin "a" (such as in the International Phonetic Alphabet)
The double  sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as Aaron and aardvark
However,  occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly , , , ,  and
is the third-most-commonly used letter in English (after  and ) and French, the second most common in Spanish, and the most common in Portuguese
About 8.167% of letters used in English texts tend to be ; the number is around 7.636% in French, 11.525% in Spanish, and 14.634% for Portuguese
Other languages 
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet,  denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as , , or
An exception is Saanich, in which  (and the glyph Á) stands for a close-mid front unrounded vowel
in X-SAMPA,  is used for the open front unrounded vowel and  is used for the open back unrounded vowel
Other uses 

In algebra, the letter a along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote a variable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics
In geometry, capital A, B, C etc
are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc
A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A
Such associations can have a motivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters
"A" is used as a prefix on some words, such as asymmetry, to mean "not" or "without" (from Greek)
In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", is an indefinite article, used to introduce noun phrases
Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe, or a small cup size in a brassiere
Alabama is the 30th largest by area and the 24th-most populous of the U.S
Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird
Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State"
The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia
Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville
Its oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists (Alabama Creoles) in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana
Greater Birmingham is Alabama's largest metropolitan area and its economic center
Originally home to many native tribes, present-day Alabama was a Spanish territory beginning in the sixteenth century until the French acquired it in the early eighteenth century
The British won the territory in 1763 until losing it in the American Revolutionary War
Spain held Mobile as part of Spanish West Florida until 1813
In December 1819, Alabama was recognized as a state
During the antebellum period, Alabama was a major producer of cotton, and widely used African American slave labor
In 1861, the state seceded from the United States to become part of the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery acting as its first capital, and rejoined the Union in 1868
Following the American Civil War, Alabama would suffer decades of economic hardship, in part due to agriculture and a few cash crops being the main driver of the state's economy
Similar to other former slave states, Alabamian legislators employed Jim Crow laws from the late 19th century up until the 1960s
High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery march made the state a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s
During and after World War II, Alabama grew as the state's economy diversified with new industries
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville would help Alabama's economic growth in the mid-to-late 20th century, by developing an aerospace industry
Alabama's economy in the 21st century is based on automotive, finance, tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, and technology
The state's geography is diverse, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port
Politically, as part of the Deep South, Alabama is predominantly a conservative state, and is known for its Southern culture
Within Alabama, American football, particularly at the college level, plays a major part of the state's culture
In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is  (or variously  or  in different dialects; the plural form is )
The word's spelling varies significantly among historical sources
As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the , with French maps identifying the river as
Other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, and Allibamou
The use of state names derived from Native American languages is common in the U.S.; an estimated 26 states have names of Native American origin