ke

Basque

Etymology

Unknown, virtually the only native word with initial /k/. The dialectal form eke is probably more conservative, which would point to Proto-Basque *eke(e).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: ke

Noun

ke inan

1. smoke

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• "ke" in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus
• “ke” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia , euskaltzaindia.eus

Borôro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰee̥/

Noun

ke

1. food
2. bat

Chuukese

Pronoun

ke

1. you (singular)

Adjective

ke

1. you are

Synonyms

• ka

Related terms

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Preposition

ke

1. to
2. toward, towards

Synonyms

• k
• ku

Further reading

• ke in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• ke in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Esperanto

Etymology

From French, Portuguese, Spanish que (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ke

Conjunction

ke

1. that

Finnish

Noun

ke

1. Abbreviation of keskiviikko.

Anagrams

• EK

Guaraní

Noun

ke

1. dream

Verb

ke

1. to sleep

Conjugation

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Etymology 1

From French que (“that”).

Pronoun

ke

1. (relative, object of relative clause) that

Usage notes

• This word is often omitted.

Etymology 2

From French queue (“tail”).

Noun

ke

1. tail

Etymology 3

From French que (“than”).

Preposition

ke

1. than

Alternative forms

• pase

Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai

Particle

ke

1. (Yavapai) not, negation particle

References

• Corinna Handschuh, A typology of marked-S languages

Hawaiian

Alternative forms

• ka

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Article

ke (definite)

1. the

Usage notes

• Modifies words which begin with the letters 'k', 'a', 'e', and 'o'.

Hokkien

Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto ke, from French que, Portuguese que, Spanish que, Italian che.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/, /kɛ/

Conjunction

ke

1. that

   Me konocas ke tu volas helpar me.

   I know that you want to help me

Usage notes

The conjugation can also be used in combination with a preposition to make it a conjugation. See: pro ke, por ke, dum ke, depos ke, and til ke.

Proper noun

ke (plural ke-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter K/k.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay ke, from Old Malay ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: kê

Preposition

kê

1. to

   Semalam aku pergi ke rumah teman.

   Last night I went to a friend’s home.

See also

• dari

Italian

Etymology

Shorter, written form of che

Pronoun

ke

1. (informal, often in Internet chat or in SMS messages) who; which; what; that; than

Japanese

Romanization

ke

1. Rōmaji transcription of け
2. Rōmaji transcription of ケ

Kholosi

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Postposition

ke

1. accusative case marker
2. dative case marker

   Yunos mānāske nāmo nevisay

   Yunes wrote a letter to his mother.

References

• Rezaei, Tahereh (2020) First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran‎, Hormozgan Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts & Tourism Organization

Ladino

Conjunction

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. that
2. indicating desire or permission (usually used with the subjunctive)

Pronoun

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. who; that
2. that; whom

Preposition

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. than

Malay

Etymology 1

Phonetic spelling of -kah in a Johor-Riau accent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkə/,

Conjunction

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. (informal) or

   Synonym: atau

   Besar ke kecil?

   Big or small?

   Boleh ke tak?

   Can you do it (or not)?

Suffix

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. (informal) used on modal verbs, adverbs, verbs and nouns to form questions

   Boleh ke aku pinjam fon kau?

   Can I borrow your phone?

   Selalu ke cikgu tanya soalan macam tu?

   Is it often that the teacher ask questions like that?

   Abang kau dah beli ke PS5 yang dia kata nak beli tu?

   Has your brother bought the PS5 that he said he was going to buy?

   Kau ke yang dapat markah 100% dekat ujian baru-baru ni tu?

   Are you the one that got a score of a 100% for the recent test?

Usage notes

Note that unlike -kah, ke isn't written conjoined with a preceding word.

Etymology 2

From Old Malay ka, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkə/,

Preposition

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. to

   Antonym: dari

   Semalam aku pergi ke rumah kawan.

   Yesterday I went to a friend’s house.

Derived terms

• kepada

Descendants

• Indonesian: ke

Etymology 3

From English kay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/,

Noun

ké (plural ke-ke)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.

Synonyms

• kaf (Jawi letter name)
• ke (Indonesian)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; e, bi, si, di, i, ef, ji, hec, ai, je, ke, el, em, en, o, pi, kiu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dabel yu, eks, way, zed

Mandarin

Romanization

ke

1. Nonstandard spelling of kē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of ké.
3. Nonstandard spelling of kě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of kè.
5. Nonstandard spelling of kê̄.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mapudungun

Noun

ke (Raguileo spelling)

1. liver

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Mbyá Guaraní

Verb

ke

1. to sleep

Conjugation

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛː/

Pronoun

ke

1. (dialectal, Eastern Norway) alternative form of kva (“what”)

Old French

Pronoun

ke

1. Alternative form of que

Conjunction

ke

1. Alternative form of que

Pali

Alternative forms

Pronoun

ke

1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ka

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese querer and Spanish querer and Kabuverdianu kré.

Verb

ke

1. to want, to wish
2. to love, to like

Romani

Conjunction

ke

1. because

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya)

  (file)

Adjective

-ke (declinable)

1. female

Declension

Coordinate terms

• -ume

Derived terms

• mke

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish que.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ke
• IPA^(key): /ˈke/,

Conjunction

ke (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒ) (colloquial)

1. even if; whether

   Synonyms: kahit, man, kahiman

   ke ganto ― even if this is like this

Related terms

Etymology 2

Possibly from Mandarin 葛 (gé).

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ke
• IPA^(key): /ˈkeʔ/,

Noun

kê (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒ) (botany)

1. kudzu (Pueraria montans var. lobata)

Further reading

• “ke”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Tocharian A

Etymology

Compare Tocharian B kaiyye.

Noun

ke

1. chance, opportunity

Tocharian B

Etymology

Possibly related to the intensifying suffix -k(ä).

Particle

ke

1. intensifying particle

Further reading

• Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “ke”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 201

Tooro

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *kéè.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Adjective

-ke (declinable)

1. small, little

   Synonym: -taito

   Antonym: -kooto

Usage notes

When used in the plural, -ke can mean 'few' or 'small number of', in addition to 'small'. Thus, emiti mike can mean 'small trees' or 'a few trees'.

Declension

Related terms

• -keeha (“to grow small; to contract”)

References

• Entry 7984 at Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3
• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎, Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 358

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ce/, /ka/

Noun

ke

1. The name of the Latin-script letter K.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key):
• (Huế) IPA^(key):
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key):

Noun

ke • (鷄)

1. saliva/drool that flows out when sleeping

   Mồm dính ke kìa.

   You have spit around your mouth.

Xerénte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰe/

Noun

ke

1. honey

References

• Rinaldo de Mattos, Fonêmica Xerente

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Particle

ke

1. quotative particle

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “ke”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎, Lyon

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ké/

Verb

ké

1. to cry; to shout; to scream

   Mo ké sí ọ ― I cry out to you

Derived terms

• akéwì (“oral poet”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ké/

Verb

ké

1. to cut

   Synonym: gé

Derived terms

• àáké (“axe”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kè/

Particle

kè

1. (Yagba) Alternative form of kò

   Ìghọn ọlọ́ṣà kè gbe arù rẹ̀ rè ― The thieves did not steal his luggage

Zulu

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɠe/^?

Verb

-ke^?

1. (auxiliary) sometimes, occasionally

   Ake akhale.

   Sometimes he cries.

2. (auxiliary) ever

   Wake wabona ibhubesi?

   Have you ever seen a lion?

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɠé/

Conjunction

ke

1. (that one) dare to, let; indicates threatening

   Ke azame-nje!

   Just let him try!

References

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ke”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ke”
• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “ke”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “ke (3)”