کیا

Urdu

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀓𑀺𑀁 (kiṃ), 𑀓𑀺 (ki), from Sanskrit किम् (kim, “what, which”), probably influenced by the alternative nominative form का (kā). Doublet of کہ (ke, ki). Compare Punjabi ਕੀ (kī)/کی (kī), Gujarati કિયું (kiyũ), Marathi की (kī), Bengali কি (ki), Assamese কি (ki), Kashmiri کیاہ (kyah).

کْیا • (kyā) (Hindi spelling क्या)

initial interrogative particle
کْیا آپ یَہاں رہتے ہَیں؟
kyā āp yahā̃ rehte ha͠i?
Do you live here?
(literally, “[question marker] you here living are?”)

In this usage, it simply turns the sentence into a yes-or-no question. It can be equated with Arabic هَلْ (hal).
In casual use, the "yes or no" question marker (in the sense of "is it that") is usually dropped as intonation is usually sufficient. Compare with the dropping of Persian's yes-no question marker آیا.

کْیا • (kyā) (Hindi spelling क्या)

subjective interrogative pronoun used to refer to inanimate objects or abstract entities, also often used to refer to animals: what
آم کا دام کْیا ہَے؟
ām kā dām kyā hai?
What is the price of mangoes?

Singular:

declension of کیا

Plural (formal):

declension of کیا

کِیا • (kiyā) (Hindi spelling किया)

McGregor, R.S, ed. The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press. 1993
Platts, John Thompson. A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1884. [1]