का

Bagheli

Etymology

From Sanskrit किम् (kim). Cognate to Hindi क्या (kyā).

Pronoun

का (kā)

1. what

Hindi

Etymology

From a derivative of Sanskrit कृ (kṛ, “to do”), likely कृत (kṛta, “done”) or कार्य (kārya, “to be done”). Dasa also suggests -क (-ka, diminutive suffix). Compare Punjabi ਦਾ (dā).

Pronunciation

• (Delhi Hindi) IPA^(key): /kɑː/, [käː]

Postposition

का • (kā) (Urdu spelling کا)

1. marks the genitive case: of, belonging to

   राम का भाई ― rām kā bhāī ― Ram's brother

   उसका दोस्त ― uskā dost ― his friend

   सोनिया की घड़ी ― soniyā kī ghaṛī ― Soniya's watch.

2. part of, from

   संतरे का रस

   santre kā ras

   orange juice

   (literally, “juice from orange”)

   हाथ की उंगली ― hāth kī uṅglī ― finger of the hand.

3. made of, consisting of

   लोहे की तलवार

   lohe kī talvār

   an iron sword

4. worth, useful

   क्या यह कोई कहने की बात है?

   kyā yah koī kahne kī bāt hai?

   Is this something that is worth saying?

5. (colloquial) marks the prospective case

   वह नहीं कहने का।

   vah nahī̃ kahne kā.

   He's not going to talk.

6. (in the oblique) forms compound postpositions

   के दौरान ― ke daurān ― during

   की तरफ़ ― kī taraf ― facing

Usage notes

• का is a possessive postposition in Hindi to show relationships with people and things, and in many cases it can be translated as a Saxon genitive, as possession would be used in English.
• Some pronoun genitive forms change का into रा, e.x. मेरा (merā, “my”).
• It also forms a large number of compound postpositions such as के साथ (ke sāth, “with”), के पीछे (ke pīche, “behind”), की तरफ़ (kī taraf, “facing”), etc.

Declension

Declension of का (ā-stem)

	masculine		feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
direct	का kā	के ke	की kī	की kī
oblique	के ke	के ke	की kī	की kī
vocative	के ke	के ke	की kī	की kī

Pronoun

का • (kā)

1. (dialectal) Alternative form of क्या (kyā); what

Further reading

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “का”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Dāsa, Śyāmasundara (1965–1975) “का”, in Hindī Śabdasāgara [lit. Sea of Hindi words] (in Hindi), Kashi [Varanasi]: Nagari Pracarini Sabha
• Bahri, Hardev (1989) “का”, in Siksarthi Hindi-Angrejhi Sabdakosa [Learners' Hindi-English Dictionary], Delhi: Rajpal & Sons.

Marathi

Alternative forms

• कला (kalā) — East Indian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka/

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

का • (kā)

1. why

   Synonyms: कशाने (kaśāne), कशामुळे (kaśāmuḷe)

   हे तू का केलेस?

   he tū kā keles?

   Why did you do this?

Conjunction

का • (kā)

1. or

Particle

का • (kā)

1. final interrogative particle to form a yes-no question

   तुम्ही दिल्लीचे का?

   tumhī dillīce kā?

   Are you from Delhi?

See also

• कधी (kadhī)
• कसे (kase)
• काय (kāy)
• कोण (koṇ)
• कोणते (koṇte)

References

• Berntsen, Maxine, “का”, in A Basic Marathi-English Dictionary, New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies, 1982-1983.
• Molesworth, James Thomas (1857) “का”, in A dictionary, Marathi and English, Bombay: Printed for government at the Bombay Education Society's Press

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• kā (Latin script)
• 𑀓𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• কা (Bengali script)
• කා (Sinhalese script)
• ကာ or ၵႃ (Burmese script)
• กา (Thai script)
• ᨠᩣ (Tai Tham script)
• ກາ (Lao script)
• កា (Khmer script)
• 𑄇𑄂 (Chakma script)

Pronoun

का f

1. Devanagari script form of kā (“who (f.)”)

Declension

Declension table of "का" (feminine)

Case \ Number	Singular	Plural
Nominative (first)	का (kā)	कायो (kāyo) or का (kā)
Accusative (second)	कं (kaṃ)	कायो (kāyo) or का (kā)
Instrumental (third)	काय (kāya)	काहि (kāhi) or काभि (kābhi)
Dative (fourth)	काय (kāya) or कस्सा (kassā)	कासं (kāsaṃ) or कासानं (kāsānaṃ)
Ablative (fifth)	काय (kāya)	काहि (kāhi) or काभि (kābhi)
Genitive (sixth)	काय (kāya) or कस्सा (kassā)	कासं (kāsaṃ) or कासानं (kāsānaṃ)
Locative (seventh)	काय (kāya) or कायं (kāyaṃ)	कासु (kāsu)

Sanskrit

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• কা (Assamese script)
• ᬓᬵ (Balinese script)
• কা (Bengali script)
• 𑰎𑰯 (Bhaiksuki script)
• 𑀓𑀸 (Brahmi script)
• ကာ (Burmese script)
• કા (Gujarati script)
• ਕਾ (Gurmukhi script)
• 𑌕𑌾 (Grantha script)
• ꦏꦴ (Javanese script)
• 𑂍𑂰 (Kaithi script)
• ಕಾ (Kannada script)
• កា (Khmer script)
• ກາ (Lao script)
• കാ (Malayalam script)
• ᡬᠠᢇ (Manchu script)
• 𑘎𑘰 (Modi script)
• ᢉᠠ᠎ᠠ (Mongolian script)
• 𑦮𑧑 (Nandinagari script)
• 𑐎𑐵 (Newa script)
• କା (Odia script)
• ꢒꢵ (Saurashtra script)
• 𑆑𑆳 (Sharada script)
• 𑖎𑖯 (Siddham script)
• කා (Sinhalese script)
• 𑩜𑩛 (Soyombo script)
• 𑚊𑚭 (Takri script)
• கா (Tamil script)
• కా (Telugu script)
• กา (Thai script)
• ཀཱ (Tibetan script)
• 𑒏𑒰 (Tirhuta script)
• 𑨋𑨊 (Zanabazar Square script)

Pronoun

का • (kā)

1. (interrogative) inflection of किम् (kim, “who”):
   1. nominative singular feminine
   2. sandhi form of nominative/accusative plural feminine

Sheshi Kham

Alternative forms

• काः

Etymology

Ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *d-kʷəj-n.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɐ/

Noun

का

1. dog

Yamphu

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ŋa-j ~ ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka/

Pronoun

का (kā)

1. I, me

References

• “का”, in याम्फु - नेपाली - अङ्ग्रेजी शब्दकोश (Yamphu - Nepali - English Dictionary), Nepal: SIL International, 2019.