Ni hao ma It has been long :) An interesting question indeed! Since you are a classic English literature reader , you are likely to meet those a- prefix initials of words more often . Many of them are not used in contemporary speech and daily life as much. Many evolved from being used frequently in Old English through Middle English speech to lesser and lesser contemporary usage. Some on the other hand are still used abundantly today (such as around ) The prefix "a" could mean : - on , in , at : e.g in such a manner ( aloud) , on purpose ( a-purpose) . - not ,without . eg . ahistorical ( not related to history).

I am curious too. I just understand them like they are very close to each other.