か

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See also: が, か゚, and ゕ

か U+304B, か
HIRAGANA LETTER KA
← お
 		Hiragana が →

Japanese

Stroke order
3 strokes

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

Syllable

か • (ka) 

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

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
乎 (literary, obsolete)
歟 (literary, obsolete)

From Proto-Japonic *ka.

Particle

か • (ka) 

  1. final interrogative particle, similar to a question mark ("?").
    お元(げん)気(き)ですか。
    O-genki desu ka.
    How are you?
    (literally, “Are you well?”)
    どうすればいいかわからない。
    Dō sureba ii ka wakaranai.
    I don't know what I should do.
  2. particle marking alternatives in a list; "or"
    これか、それか、どっちか選(えら)んでよ。
    Kore ka, sore ka, dotchika erande yo.
    This or that, choose one of them.
  3. whether (or not)
    行(い)くか知(し)らない。
    Iku ka shiranai.
    I don't know whether he'll go.
  4. indication of doubt
    行(い)くかと思(おも)いますが……
    Iku ka to omoimasu ga……
    I think he'll go (but I'm not sure)....
Usage notes
  • In Classical Japanese, attaches to the rentaikei:
    誰(だれ)が天(てん)地(ち)を造(つく)りしか。
    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.
Alternative forms
See also

Etymology 3

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

Prefix

か • (ka-) 

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

Etymology 4

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

Suffix

か • (-ka) 

  1. forms 形容動詞 (keiyō dōshi, “-na adjectives”) from stems, indicating the state or feeling of an object
Usage notes
  • May attach directly to a root.
    • ‎静 (shizu-) + ‎か (-ka) → ‎静か (shizuka, “quiet”)
    • ‎愚 (oro-) + ‎か (-ka) → ‎愚か (oroka, “foolish”)
    • ‎細 (koma-) + ‎か (-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 い (-i).
    • ‎細 (koma-) + ‎か (-ka) + ‎い (-i) → ‎細かい (komakai, “tiny; detailed”)
    • ‎暖 (atata-) + ‎か (-ka) + ‎い (-i) → ‎暖かい (atatakai, “warm”)
  • Often follows -na adjective-forming suffixes や (ya) or ら (ra); see also やか (-yaka) and らか (-raka)
    • ‎爽 (sawa-) + ‎や (-ya) + ‎か (-ka) → ‎爽やか (sawayaka, “refreshing; clear; eloquent”)
    • ‎明 (aki-) + ‎ら (-ra) + ‎か (-ka) → ‎明らか (akiraka, “apparent; clear”)

Etymology 5

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

Etymology 6

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

(The following entries are uncreated: 何, 苛, 嫁, 暇, 禍, 靴, 稼, 瓜, 禾, 伽, 迦, 嘉, 霞, 戈, 卦, 呵, 訛, 訶, 窩.)

References

  1. ^ “か”, in 日本国語大辞典 (Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, “Nihon Kokugo Daijiten”)‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, 2000
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