かの

Japanese

Alternative spellings
彼の 彼

Etymology

Originally a compound of か (ka, “he, she, it”, third-person pronoun) +‎ の (no, genitive particle).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​の [káꜜnò] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠no̞]

Adnominal

かの • (kano) 

1. that [one] (distant from both speaker and listener)

   Refers to someone or something not previously mentioned in context, but known to both speaker and listener.

Usage notes

As an adnominal, kano must be followed by a noun or noun phrase.

The term kano has been mostly replaced by あの (ano) in modern Japanese. Kano is still in use, but is viewed as more formal and archaic.

Most often written in kana.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• 彼女(かのじょ) (kanojo): she, her; girlfriend
• 彼(か)の様(さま) (kanosama): honorific third-person pronoun: he, she, it
• 彼(か)の世(よ) (kanoyo): the other world, the next world, the world of the dead

Pronoun

かの • (kano) 

1. (obsolete) you-know-who, you-know-what

   Refers to someone or something not previously mentioned in context, but known to both speaker and listener. Used when the referent cannot be explicitly named for some reason.

   • 1694, Yashoku Jibun, Kōshoku Mankintan (Erotic Tonic), volume 3:

     奈(な)良(ら)茶(ちゃ)は夜(や)分(ぶん)、かののおゆるは朝(あさ)時(じ)分(ぶん)

     Nara cha wa yabun, kano no oyuru wa asa jibun

     (please add an English translation of this example)

   • 1766, Chikamatsu Hanji, Honchō Nijūshi Kō (Twenty-four Filial Children of Japan), volume 4:

     かのとは誰(だれ)ぢゃ、八(や)つ橋(はし)か

     Kano to wa dare ja, yatsuhashi ka

     So who is “you-know-who”, is it Yatsuhashi?

Usage notes

Used in the Edo period, but apparently obsolete in modern Japanese.