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U+3042, あ
HIRAGANA LETTER A

Hiragana

Japanese

Stroke order
3 strokes

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji in the cursive sōsho style.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key):
  • Audio:(file)

Syllable

(a

  1. The hiragana syllable (a). Its equivalent in katakana is (a). It is the first syllable in the gojūon order; its position is (a-gyō a-dan, row a, section a).
See also

Etymology 2

Common exclamatory sound made by people of various cultures around the world.

Pronunciation

Interjection

or (a

  1. expresses surprise: Ah! Oh!
    Synonym: あっ (a')
  2. used to get someone's attention
  3. used as a response to someone's call
    Synonym: はい (hai)

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of – see the following entries.
S
(chemistry) indicates a lower oxidation number: -ous
ranking next, coming after, sub-
Used as a phonetic element in transliterations, especially:
Short for アジア亜細亜 (Ajia, Asia (a continent)).
(obsolete) Short for アメリカ亜米利加 (Amerika): America, the United States
Alternative spelling of (a): white earth
a female given name
J
The first letter of Sanskrit, (a).
to flatter; to pander to
ridge (of roof); eaves
A prefix expressing familiarity.
Used as a phonetic element, especially in words from Sanskrit.
Short for アフリカ (Afurika, Africa).
Short for 阿波国 (Awa no kuni, Awa Province).
H
muteness; dumbness
mute, dumb
H
frog (amphibious animal)
H
illness; disease
(This term, (a), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.)
For a list of all kanji read as , see Category:Japanese kanji read as あ.)

Etymology 4

Alternative spellings

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *a. The short form of あれ (are).

Fell into disuse in roughly the Heian period,[2][1] when it was replaced by (wa).

Pronoun

(a

  1. (obsolete) first-person personal pronoun: I, me
    • c. 10011014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari (Yūgao)
      (きみ)()()(たま)へ。いと、いみじき()()(たま)ひそ
      A ga kimi, iki ide tamahe. Ito, imi jiki me namisetamahiso
      Ye, return to life. Show not such sad eyes

See also

Etymology 5

Alternative spelling

/ka//a/

Shift in pronunciation from (ka). Appears from the Heian period.[2]

Pronoun

(a

  1. distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon
Derived terms

See also

Etymology 6

Alternative spelling

Noun

(a

  1. (obsolete) foot

Etymology 7

Alternative spellings

Noun

(a

  1. (obsolete) ridge between rice fields; ridge between groves

Etymology 8

Alternative spellings

Alternative spelling of あん (an), the onbin form of あり (ari) or ある (aru), with the (n) omitted in writing

Verb

(a

  1. (Classical Japanese) to be, to exist

References

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

Okinawan

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *a, from Proto-Japonic *a.

Noun

(a

  1. (Old Okinawan) I; first-person pronoun
    • 1531-1623, Omoro Sōshi
      あらかきの うきおほちか もりに あか なさ す ふため まさりよわれ
      arakaki no, uki ofoji ga, mori ni, a ga, nasa su, futame, masariyoware
      The ancestors of Arakaki, exceed the good fortune of my father.
    • 1711, Konkōkenshū:
      わん 又あか 我れなり
      wan, MATA a ga. WAre nari
      Wan. Also a ga. Me.

References

  • Okinawa Kogo Daijiten Henshū I'inkai (沖縄古語大辞典編集委員会) (1995) 沖縄古語大辞典 [Dictionary of Archaic Okinawan], Tokyo (東京都): Kadokawa Shoten (角川書店), →ISBN, page 1