か

See also: が, か゚, and ゕ

か U+304B, か HIRAGANA LETTER KA ← お [U+304A] Hiragana が → [U+304C]

Contents

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠]

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 加 in the cursive sōsho style. Variants include those derived by similar process from 可, 閑, 家, 我, 駕, 賀, 歌, 謌, 哥, 佳, 香, 嘉, 歟 and 荷.

Syllable

か (romaji ka)

1. The hiragana syllable か (ka). Its equivalent in katakana is カ (ka). It is the sixth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is か行あ段 (ka-gyō a-dan, “row ka, section a”).

Derived terms

• が (ga)

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Compare Korean 까 (kka, “interrogative particle”).

Counter

か (rōmaji -ka)

1. 課: lessons, chapters
2. 箇, 個, 个, カ: numbers in the Chinese (ichi-ni-san) counting system
3. 箇: articles
4. 菓: fruit
5. 果: pieces of fruit
6. 日: days
7. 荷: loads that can be carried on foot
8. 架: flat framed items

Particle

か (rōmaji ka)

1. final interrogative particle, similar to a question mark ("?").

   お元 (げん)気 (き)ですか。

   O-genki desu ka.

   How are you? [How is your health?]

2. particle marking alternatives in a list; "or"

   これか、それか、どっちか選 (えら)んでよ。

   Kore ka, sore ka, dotchika erande yo.

   This or that, choose one of them.

3. whether (or not)

   行 (い)くか知 (し)らない。

   Iku ka shiranai.

   I don't know whether he'll go.

4. indication of doubt

   行 (い)くかと思 (おも)いますが……

   Iku ka to omoimasu ga……

   I think he'll go (but I'm not sure)....

See also

• ね (ne)

Noun

か (rōmaji ka)

1. 香: aroma, scent, fragrance
2. 蚊: mosquito
3. 鹿: deer
4. 火: fire; one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see the "Wu Xing" entry on Wikipedia; under the old Ritsuryō system of ancient Japan, a military grouping, consisting of 10 soldiers: a squad
5. 可: passable
6. 科: family (biological classification)

Prefix

か (rōmaji ka-)

1. 仮: temporary, unreal
2. 過: super-, over-; per (chemistry)

Suffix

か (rōmaji -ka)

1. 家: -ist, -er, someone who does something
2. 科: department, section; taxonomical family
3. 課: section, department; lesson
4. 可: permitted, allowed, licensed
5. 日: day of the month
6. 化: -ification
7. 下: under a certain condition
8. 荷: load