क

क U+0915, क DEVANAGARI LETTER KA ← औ Devanagari ख →

• IPA^(key): /kə/

क (ka)

1. the Devanagari script’s unvoiced, unaspirated guttural consonant; k /k/

This letter creates several irregular ligatures.

• क्त (kt) (kta): क + त
• क्ष (kṣ) (kṣa): क + ष

• IPA^(key):

क • (ka)

1. The eighth consonant in Dhivehi, written in Devanagari

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /kə/,

क • (ka)

1. the first consonant in Hindi

• (nuqta form): क़ (qa)
• (Devanagari script letters) अ,‎ आ,‎ इ,‎ ई,‎ उ,‎ ऊ,‎ ऋ,‎ ए,‎ ऐ,‎ ओ,‎ औ,‎ अं,‎ अः,‎ अँ,‎ क,‎ ख,‎ ग,‎ घ,‎ ङ,‎ च,‎ छ,‎ ज,‎ झ,‎ ञ,‎ ट,‎ ठ,‎ ड,‎ ढ,‎ ण,‎ त,‎ थ,‎ द,‎ ध,‎ न,‎ प,‎ फ,‎ ब,‎ भ,‎ म,‎ य,‎ र,‎ ल,‎ व,‎ श,‎ ष,‎ स,‎ ह,‎ त्र,‎ ज्ञ,‎ क्ष,‎ क़,‎ ख़,‎ ग़,‎ ज़,‎ झ़,‎ ड़,‎ ढ़,‎ फ़ ^{(Category: Hindi letters)}

• IPA^(key): /kə/

• Audio:

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क • (ka)

1. The first consonant in Marathi.

• IPA^(key):
• Phonetic Devanagari: क

क • (ka)

1. The first consonant in Nepali.

क m

1. Devanagari script form of ka (“who (m.)”)
   • c. 500 AD, Kaccāyana, Pālivyākaraṇaṃ [Pali Grammar]‎, page 2; republished as Satish Chandra Acharyya Vidyabhusana, editor, Kaccayana's Pali Grammar (edited in Devanagari character and translated into English), Calcutta, Bengal: Mahabodhi Society, 1901:

     अक्खर इच्‍चनेन क्वत्‍थो? अत्थो अक्खर-सञ्ञातो

     Akkhara iccanena kvattho? Attho akkhara-saññāto.

     What is the meaning of this, viz. a 'letter'? The meaning comes from being skilled in letters.

क n

1. Devanagari script form of ka (“what”)

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /kɐ/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /kɐ/

• (Vedic) IPA^(key): /kɐ́/
• (Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /kɐ/

From Proto-Indo-Aryan *kás, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *kás, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷós. Cognate with Avestan 𐬐𐬀 (ka), Ancient Greek ποῖος (poîos), Latin quis, Old English hwā (whence English who).

क • (ká)

1. interrogative pronoun; who, what, which

   सः कः? ― saḥ kaḥ? ― Who is he?

   एषः कः? ― eṣaḥ kaḥ? ― What is this?

Sentences beginning with क (ka) are often terminated with इति (iti).

See किम् (kim).

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

क • (ka) stem, m

1. a name
   1. name of (a) प्रजापति (prajāpati)
   2. name of ब्रह्मन् (brahman)
   3. name of दक्ष (dakṣa)
   4. name of विष्णु (viṣṇu)
   5. name of यम (yama)
   6. name of गरुड (garuḍa)
2. the soul
3. a particular comet
4. the sun
5. fire
6. splendor, light
7. air
8. a peacock
9. the body
10. time
11. wealth
12. sound
13. a king
14. Synonym of कामग्रन्थि (kāmagranthi)

From कम् (kam, “to wish, desire, love”).

क • (ka) stem, n

1. happiness, joy, pleasure
2. water
3. the head
4. hair, a head of hair

• Monier Williams (1899) “क”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, , new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 247/2.
• Mayrhofer, Manfred (1992) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎ (in German), volume 1, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 284-285