か

See also: が, か゚, and ゕ

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

Japanese

Stroke order

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ka̠]

• Audio

  (file)

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”).

Particle

か (rōmaji ka)

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

   お元気 (げんき)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)....

Alternative forms

• け (ke)
• けえ (kē)

See also

• ね (ne)

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entries.

【下】1 [affix]down; below; beneath [suffix]under a situation 【火】1 [noun]a fire [noun]one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see Wu Xing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia [noun](historical) under the old 律令 (Ritsuryō) system of ancient Japan, a military grouping, consisting of 10 soldiers: a squad [noun]Short for 火曜日 (kayōbi): Tuesday [affix]fire [noun]a fire [noun]one of the five classical elements in traditional Chinese philosophy and medicine: see Wu Xing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia [noun](historical) under the old 律令 (Ritsuryō) system of ancient Japan, a military grouping, consisting of 10 soldiers: a squad [noun]Short for 火曜日 (kayōbi): Tuesday [affix]fire [affix]light [affix]burning [affix]passion [affix]imminently [affix]explosive [proper noun]Antares, in the constellation Scorpio 【花】1 [affix]flower [affix]red-light district 【何】2 【科】2 [suffix]department, section [suffix](taxonomy) family 【夏】2 [proper noun]the Xia dynasty (first dynasty of China) [proper noun]Short for 大夏 (Daika): Xia, one of the Sixteen Kingdoms [proper noun]Short for 西夏 (Seika): Western Xia, an empire during the Song dynasty [proper noun]a surname [proper noun]a male or female given name 【家】2 [suffix]an expert, professional, performer 【歌】2 [affix]a song; to sing [affix]Japanese poetry; waka 【化】3 [affix]to change; to take the form of [affix]to influence [suffix]-ization, -ification; action of making something that way 【荷】3 [counter]loads that can be carried on one's shoulders 【加】4 [noun]addition [proper noun]Abbreviation of 加奈陀 (Kanada): Canada 【果】4 [counter]pieces of fruit [noun]fruit [noun](Buddhism) phala, attained state, result [noun](Buddhism) enlightenment (as the fruits of one's Buddhist practice) 【貨】4 [affix]currency [affix]goods [affix]treasure 【課】4 [counter]lessons [counter]chapters of a book [noun]lesson [suffix]section, department [suffix]lesson 【可】5 [noun]passable [noun]allowed [suffix]permitted, allowed, licensed 【仮】5 [prefix]temporary [prefix]unreal, fake, imaginary 【価】5 [affix]price [affix]value 【河】5 [affix]river 【過】5 [noun]fault; error; mistake [noun]the past [noun]excess [prefix](chemistry) super-, over-; per 【佳】S [affix]beautiful, good [affix]excellent 【苛】S 【架】S [noun]a rack; a mount; a stand [counter]flat framed items 【華】S [noun]flashiness, showiness [proper noun]a surname [proper noun]a male or female given name 【菓】S [counter]fruit 【渦】S [affix]eddy, swirl, whirlpool, vortex 【嫁】S 【暇】S 【禍】S 【靴】S 【寡】S [noun]minority 【箇】S 【稼】S 【瓜】J 【禾】J 【伽】J 【迦】J 【嘉】J 【霞】J 【戈】H 【卦】H 【呵】H 【訛】H 【訶】H 【瑕】H 【窩】H 【顆】H

(This term, か, is the hiragana spelling of several Sino-Japanese terms.) For a list of all kanji with on'yomi か, not just those used in Sino-Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji with on reading か.

Etymology 4

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entry at 日.

か【日】 [counter]daytimes [counter]number of days

(This term, か, is a hiragana spelling of 日.)

Etymology 5

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entry at 香.

か【香】 [noun]a pleasant smell; a scent, a fragrance, an aroma

(This term, か, is a hiragana spelling of 香.)

Etymology 6

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entry at 蚊.

か【蚊】 [noun]mosquito

(This term, か, is a hiragana spelling of 蚊.)

Etymology 7

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entry at 鹿.

か【鹿】 [noun](archaic) deer

(This term, か, is a hiragana spelling of 鹿.)

Etymology 8

For pronunciation and definitions of か – see the following entry at 彼.

か【彼】 [pronoun]distal demonstrative, something far off removed from both speaker and listener: that, yon

(This term, か, is a hiragana spelling of 彼.)