kuka

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *ku, from Proto-Uralic *ku- ~ *ko-. The nominative and genitive singular forms, which would have otherwise been monosyllabic, have been extended with -ka (as with joka and mikä). Cognate with Estonian kumb (“which”), Erzya кона (kona, “which”), кода (koda, “how”), Hungarian hol (“where”), Forest Enets (hōke, “which one”), Nganasan (kuninu, “where”), and Kamassian (kāmǝ̑n, “if”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/,

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ukɑ
• Syllabification^(key): ku‧ka

Pronoun

kuka

1. (interrogative) who

   Kuka on ovella?

   Who is at the door?

2. (relative) who (as an 'independent' relative pronoun; see the usage notes)

   En tiedä kuka sen teki.

   I don't know who did it.

3. (relative, dialectal) who

   Synonyms: joka, mikä

Usage notes

• The singular forms are sometimes used colloquially instead of the actual plural forms. ketä is particularly common for keitä. In some dialects, ketä is used as the nominative singular form in place of kuka.
• kuka is only used as an 'independent' relative pronoun in standard Finnish. It is used for persons, while mikä is used otherwise. See the usage notes of mikä for more on this usage (#4). Outside of this usage, kuka is used as a relative pronoun only in dialects, and joka or mikä is used instead.
• kuka may behave as an indefinite pronoun with an additional word like ikinä, hyvänsä, tahansa (after kuka), or vaikka (before kuka). Some relative uses may also be indefinite:

  Oli kuka oli. (dismissive nuance)

  Whoever it was.

  (literally, “ was who was.”)

Inflection

• In the inflection table below, poetic and/or archaic forms are shown in brackets and modern usage without brackets. In modern Finnish, forms based on the stem form ke- or kene- are the usual inflected forms of the interrogative personal pronoun. Inflected forms based on the stem ku- are now archaic and somewhat poetic, even though the nominative singular kuka is modern. Conversely, the alternative nominative form ken is now archaic or poetic.
  • Thus, kuta sinä rakastat?, while standard, would to a modern speaker appear roughly as archaic as "Whom dost thou love?"
• The illative, adessive, ablative and allative singular cases have alternative forms of equal value; both forms are commonly used. Thus, keneen ~ kehen, kenellä ~ kellä, kenelle ~ kelle and keneltä ~ keltä exist in free variation.
• Like personal pronouns, a special accusative form exists: kenet (compare minut, sinut, etc.).
• Some cases of kuka/ken are hardly used at all. The inflection table below shows the archaic or otherwise rarely used forms in brackets.
• The instructive plural kuin(ka)*, the instructive singular kun* and the causative singular kuten* (with the dated, archaic form kutenka*) are used as adverbs with completely different meanings from “who”.

Synonyms

• ken (see the inflection section above)

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

• kukapa tietää?

Further reading

• “kuka”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Anagrams

• akku

Hawaiian

Etymology

From English coat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ka/,

Noun

kuka

1. coat

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ku‧ka
• Rhymes: -kɒ

Etymology 1

Uncertain; perhaps an Italian loan word, compare Northern Italian cuco (“goofy”).

Adjective

kuka

2. dumb (as a fish), tongue-tied (not saying a word)

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Via Czech, from German KUKA, short for Keller und Knappich Augsburg, a German firm which manufactured and supplied orange refuse collection vehicles. Today the company KUKA produces industrial robots and automation technologies.

Noun

kuka (plural kukák)

2. garbage can, trash can, refuse bin (especially an outdoor container)

   Coordinate terms: szemetes, szemetesvödör, szemétkosár, szemetesláda, szemétláda

Declension

Further reading

• (dumb): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (garbage can): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (wooden hook used for drying tobacco): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Ingrian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kuka, from Proto-Uralic *ku-. Cognates with Finnish kuka (“who”).

The inflected forms derive from Proto-Finnic *ku.

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/,
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/,
• Rhymes: -ukɑ
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

Pronoun

kuka

1. which? (of many)

Declension

Derived terms

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 212

Pitjantjatjara

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

kuka

1. edible animal
2. meat

Derived terms

• kukaku ananyi (“to hunt”)
• kukaputju (“hunter”)
• kukanypa (“marked man, target”)

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ka/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uka
• Syllabification: ku‧ka

Verb

kuka

1. third-person singular present of kukać

Quechua

Noun

kuka

1. coca

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *kuka (“hook, hook-shaped”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kûka/
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

Noun

kȕka f (Cyrillic spelling ку̏ка)

1. hook

Declension

Further reading

• “kuka” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kûka/
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

Noun

kȕka f (Cyrillic spelling ку̏ка)

1. Mediterranean slipper lobster (Scyllarides latus)

Declension

Further reading

• “kuka” in Hrvatski jezični portal

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

kuka (Cyrillic spelling кука)

1. genitive singular of kuk

Swedish

Verb

kuka (present kukar, preterite kukade, supine kukat, imperative kuka)

1. Only used in kuka ur

Tok Pisin

Noun

kuka

1. crab

Tokelauan

Etymology

Borrowed from English cook.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

Noun

kuka

1. cook, chef
2. cooked food

Verb

kuka

1. (transitive) to cook

Derived terms

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎, Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 168

Yosondúa Mixtec

Etymology

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

Noun

kuka

1. comb

Derived terms

References

• Beaty de Farris, Kathryn, et al. (2012) Diccionario básico del mixteco de Yosondúa, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 46)‎ (in Spanish), third edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 40