は

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See also: ほ, ば, ぱ, and Appendix:Variations of "ha"

は U+306F, は
HIRAGANA LETTER HA
← の
 		Hiragana ば →

Japanese

Stroke order
3 strokes

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 波 in the cursive sōsho style.[1][2]

Pronunciation

Syllable

は • (ha) 

  1. The hiragana syllable は (ha). Its equivalent in katakana is ハ (ha). It is the twenty-sixth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is は行あ段 (ha-gyō a-dan, “row ha, section a”).
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 2

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

/pa/ → /ɸa/ → /wa/

From Old Japanese. Used in the oldest Japanese writings, including the Man'yōshū finished some time after 759 CE.[1][2] Ultimately from Proto-Japonic *pa.

The particle was excluded from the post-war script reform, rather than changed to わ (wa), which would be more phonetically accurate.

Pronunciation

Particle

は • (wa) 

  1. unique topic marker, often untranslatable
    Antonym: も
    これは犬(いぬ)です。
    Kore wa inu desu.
    This is a dog.
    今日(きょう)は雨(あめ)ですね。
    Kyō wa ame desu ne.
    It seems like it is raining today.
    今日(きょう)は雨(あめ)が降(ふ)っています。
    Kyō wa ame ga futteimasu.
    It is raining today.
    (literally, “As for today, rain is falling.”)
  2. what about, where is (used without a predicate to ask for more information about something)
    中(なか)田(だ)は？
    Nakada wa?
    Where's Nakada?
    じゃ、意(い)味(み　)は？
    Ja, imi wa?
    So, what's the meaning?
  3. Inserted between two verbs for emphasis.
    そう思(おも)ってはいないでしょうか。
    Sō omotte wa inai deshō ka.
    Do you not think so?
    勝(か)てるとは思(おも)ってはいない
    kateru to wa omotte wa inai
    does not think that one can win
    現(あらわ)れては消(き)えた
    arawarete wa kieta
    disappeared as soon as it appeared
Usage notes
  • Note that English has no direct counterpart. For illustrative purposes, it may be translated as "as for", "speaking of", or a similar phrase. For example, "As for this, it is a dog". This often does not produce very natural English, however.
  • When inserted between two verbs for emphasis, は is usually used with negatives and after a て (te) form. This has given rise to ではない (de wa nai), the now standard negative form of だ (da).
  • も (mo) vs は (ha): see も (mo).
  • は always replaces を (o) and が (ga), but may follow other particles.
Derived terms
See also
Further reading

Etymology 3

Interjection

は • (ha) 

  1. (dated, humble) Used to show agreement or obedience: yes
    は、さようでございます。
    Ha, sayō de gozaimasu.
    Yes, exactly.
    は、承(しょう)知(ち)いたしました。
    Ha, shōchi itashimashita.
    Yes, as you wish.

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of は – see the following entries.
【羽】2
a feather (including synthetic feathers, as on a modern shuttlecock)
a wing (as of a bird, bat, insect, or airplane)
a fletching on an arrow
(archery) when a bow is strung, the distance between the grip and the serving (nocking point) on the bowstring
the thin, flange-like overhanging part of a tea ceremony kettle
This term needs a translation to English.
a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”) with various designs of bird feathers
counter for birds
counter for leporids
Alternative spellings
ば, ぱ, わ
【葉】3
leaf, needle, blade (of a plant)
【歯】3
tooth
(typography) a unit equal to 1 Q (kyū) and 0.25 mm, abbreviated as H; ha is used for spacing, while Q is used for font size
Alternative spellings
H, 牙
【刃】S
any sharp and thin cutting implement: a blade, edge
(This term, は (ha), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as は, see Category:Japanese kanji read as は.)

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

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of は – see the following entries.
【派】6
group, faction, (political) wing, school
(This term, は (ha), is the hiragana spelling of the above term.)
For a list of all kanji read as は, see Category:Japanese kanji read as は.)

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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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