かな

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See also: がな

Japanese

Etymology 1

Combination of か (ka, interrogative particle) +‎ な (na, mild exclamatory particle).[1]

First attested in the late-Edo period as an apparent shift in sense from the Old Japanese and classical usage, wherein the な (na) came to express more a sense of mild doubt rather than admiration[1] (see that section for more).

Particle

かな • (ka na) 

  1. expresses a question with a feeling of worry
    彼(かれ)は怪(あや)しい人(ひと)かな。 ― Kare wa ayashii hito ka na. ― I wonder if he's a suspicious person.
    まあ、そうかな。 ― Mā, sō ka na. ― Well, maybe so.
  2. expresses skepticism: really?, is it?
  3. (in the form ～ないかな (...nai ka na)) expresses affirmation: I hope, I wish
  4. expresses confusion

Etymology 2

Alternative spelling
哉

From Old Japanese. First attested in the early 700s.[1]

From か (ka, particle indicating doubt or uncertainty) +‎ な (na, mild exclamatory particle).

Displaced particle かも (ka mo) around the early-Middle Japanese stage.[1][2]

Particle

かな • (ka na) 

  1. (Classical Japanese or literary) expresses wonder or postulation on the part of the speaker
    善(よ)き哉(かな)！
    Yoki ka na!
    Wonderful!
Usage notes

Still used in contexts that deliberately evoke a classical or literary sense, such as poetry.[2]

Derived terms
Derived terms

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of かな – see the following entries.
【仮名】
a category of Japanese syllabary scripts: kana
a syllabogram, an individual character belonging to one of the syllabaries: kana
Alternative spelling
仮字
【縢】H
(historical, sewing) thread
【鉋】H
(woodworking tools, possibly dialect) a plane
(This term, かな (kana), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as かな, see Category:Japanese kanji read as かな.)

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of かな – see the following entries.
【香奈】
a female given name
【佳奈】
a female given name
【加奈】
a female given name
(This term, かな (kana), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as かな, see Category:Japanese kanji read as かな.)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 “かな”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “哉”, in デジタル大辞泉 [Digital Daijisen]‎ (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, updated roughly every four months
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