See also: , か゚, and

U+304B, か
HIRAGANA LETTER KA

[U+304A]
Hiragana
[U+304C]

Japanese

edit
Stroke order
 

Etymology 1

edit

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji in the cursive sōsho style.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): [ka̠]
  • Audio:(file)

Syllable

edit

(ka

  1. The hiragana syllable (ka). Its equivalent in katakana is (ka). It is the sixth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is (ka-gyō a-dan, row ka, section a).
Derived terms
edit
See also
edit

Etymology 2

edit
Alternative spellings
(literary, obsolete)
(literary, obsolete)

From Proto-Japonic *ka.

Alternative forms

edit

Particle

edit

(ka

  1. final interrogative particle, similar to a question mark ("?").
    (げん)()です
    O-genki desu ka.
    How are you?
    (literally, “Are you well?”)
    どうすればいいわからない。
    Dō sureba ii ka wakaranai.
    I don't know what I should do.
  2. , : Used to mark uncertainty in non-conversation factual statements, such as data or proofreading
    時代(じだい)江戸中期(えどちゅうき)Jidai: Edo chūki kaPeriod: mid-Edo period?
    壹升(いちます)()ichi-masu (-to ka)one masu (SIC: to?)
  3. particle marking disjunction or indefiniteness; "or", "some-", "one of ..."
    これそれどっち(えら)んで
    Kore ka, sore ka, dotchika erande yo.
    This or that, choose one of them.
    (だれ)(なに)()べる
    Dareka ga nanika o taberu .
    Someone is eating something. (literally, "Who indef is eating what indef.")
  4. whether (or not)
    ()()らない
    Iku ka shiranai.
    I don't know whether he'll go.
  5. indication of doubt
    ()(おも)いますが……
    Iku ka to omoimasu ga……
    I think he'll go (but I'm not sure)....
Usage notes
edit
  • In Classical Japanese, attaches to the rentaikei:
    (だれ)(てん)()(つく)りし
    Dare ga tenchi o tsukurishi ka.
    Who made the heaven and the earth?
  • The Japanese full stop is traditionally used in place of a question mark after this particle.
See also
edit

Etymology 3

edit

First cited to The Tale of Genji (c. 1001-1014).[1]

Prefix

edit

(ka-

  1. (emphatic, before an adjective, non-productive) very
    + ‎弱い (yowai) → ‎か弱い (kayowai)
    + ‎細い (hosoi) → ‎か細い (kabosoi)

Etymology 4

edit

From Old Japanese. Only persists in stems. No longer productive in Modern Japanese.

Suffix

edit

(-ka

  1. forms 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, -na adjectives) from stems, indicating the state or feeling of an object
Usage notes
edit
  • May attach directly to a root.
    • (shizu-) + ‎ (-ka) → ‎静か (shizuka, quiet)
    • (oro-) + ‎ (-ka) → ‎愚か (oroka, foolish)
    • (koma-) + ‎ (-ka) → ‎細か (komaka, tiny; detailed)
  • May be followed in turn by -i adjective-forming suffix しい (-shii).
  • More rarely, may be followed by -i adjective-forming suffix (-i).
    • (koma-) + ‎ (-ka) + ‎ (-i) → ‎細かい (komakai, tiny; detailed)
    • (atata-) + ‎ (-ka) + ‎ (-i) → ‎暖かい (atatakai, warm)
  • Often follows -na adjective-forming suffixes (ya) or (ra); see also やか (-yaka) and らか (-raka)
    • (sawa-) + ‎ (-ya) + ‎ (-ka) → ‎爽やか (sawayaka, refreshing; clear; eloquent)
    • (aki-) + ‎ (-ra) + ‎ (-ka) → ‎明らか (akiraka, apparent; clear)

Etymology 5

edit
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entries.
1
[counter] daytimes
[counter] number of days
4
[noun] a pleasant smell; a scent, a fragrance, an aroma
S
[noun] mosquito
鹿4
[noun] (archaic) deer
S
[pronoun] distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
(This term, (ka), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as , see Category:Japanese kanji read as か.)

Etymology 6

edit
For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entries.
1
[affix] down; below; beneath
[suffix] under a situation
1
[noun] a fire
[noun] one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see   Wu Xing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
[noun] (historical) under the old 律令 (Ritsuryō) system of ancient Japan, a military grouping, consisting of 10 soldiers: a squad
[noun] Short for 火曜日 (kayōbi): Tuesday
[affix] fire
[affix] light
[affix] burning
[affix] passion
[affix] imminently
[affix] explosive
[proper noun] Antares, in the constellation Scorpio
1
[affix] flower
[affix] red-light district
2
[suffix] department, section
[suffix] (taxonomy) family
2
[proper noun] the Xia dynasty (first dynasty of China)
[proper noun] Short for 大夏 (Daika): Xia, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms
[proper noun] Short for 西夏 (Seika): Western Xia, an empire during the Song dynasty
[proper noun] a surname
[proper noun] a male or female given name
2
[suffix] an expert, professional, performer
2
[affix] a song; to sing
[affix] Japanese poetry; waka
3
[affix] to change; to take the form of
[affix] to influence
[suffix] -ization, -ification; action of making something that way
3
[counter] loads that can be carried on one's shoulders
4
[noun] addition
[affix] addition
[affix] Short for カナダ (Canada (a country)).
[affix] (US) Short for 加州 (California (a state of the United States)).
4
[counter] pieces of fruit
[noun] fruit
[noun] (Buddhism) phala, attained state, result
[noun] (Buddhism) enlightenment (as the fruits of one's Buddhist practice)
4
[affix] currency
[affix] goods
[affix] treasure
4
[counter] lessons
[counter] chapters of a book
[noun] lesson
[noun] section, department
[suffix] section, department
[suffix] lesson
5
[noun] C (academic letter grade); passable
[noun] allowed
[suffix] permitted, allowed, licensed
[suffix] -able; can be done
5
[prefix] temporary
[prefix] unreal, fake, imaginary
5
[affix] price
[affix] value
5
[affix] river
5
[noun] fault; error; mistake
[noun] the past
[noun] excess
[prefix] (chemistry) super-, over-; per
S
[affix] beautiful, good
[affix] excellent
S
[noun] a rack; a mount; a stand
[counter] flat framed items
S
[noun] flashiness, showiness
[proper noun] a surname
[proper noun] a male or female given name
S
[counter] fruit
S
[affix] eddy, swirl, whirlpool, vortex
S
[noun] minority
S
[counter] used with numbers in the ichi-ni-san counting system
H
[affix] blemish, flaw
[noun] a flaw
H
[counter] indicates small round things, such as gemstones, fruit, stones, tears
[noun] a condyle
[counter] : Counter for months, places or provisions of Classical Chinese origin.
Alternative spelling
(This term, (ka), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as , see Category:Japanese kanji read as か.)

(The following entries are uncreated: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .)

References

edit
  1. ^ ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎[1] (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006