掻く

Japanese

Kanji in this term
掻
か Hyōgaiji
kun’yomi

Alternative spelling
搔く (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From Old Japanese, ultimately from Proto-Japonic *kaku (“to scratch”).

First attested in the Kojiki of 712 CE.

Cognate with 書く (kaku, “to write”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) か​く [káꜜkù] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ka̠kɯ̟ᵝ]

• Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of "掻く"

Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Stem forms
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	掻く	か​く	[káꜜkù]
Imperative (命令形)	掻け	か​け	[káꜜkè]
Key constructions
Passive	掻かれる	かかれ​る	[kàkáréꜜrù]
Causative	掻かせる	かかせ​る	[kàkáséꜜrù]
Potential	掻ける	かけ​る	[kàkéꜜrù]
Volitional	掻こう	かこ​ー	[kàkóꜜò]
Negative	掻かない	かか​ない	[kàkáꜜnàì]
Negative perfective	掻かなかった	かか​なかった	[kàkáꜜnàkàttà]
Formal	掻きます	かきま​す	[kàkímáꜜsù]
Perfective	掻いた	か​いた	[káꜜìtà]
Conjunctive	掻いて	か​いて	[káꜜìtè]
Hypothetical conditional	掻けば	か​けば	[káꜜkèbà]

Verb

掻(か)く • (kaku) transitive godan (stem 掻(か)き (kaki), past 掻(か)いた (kaita))

1. to scratch (e.g one's head)

   頭(あたま)を掻(か)く

   atama o kaku

   to scratch one's head

2. (non-productive) Dummy verb for various nouns, often with a meaning similar to "to present" or "to give the impression of".

   汗(あせ)を掻(か)く

   ase o kaku

   to sweat

   あぐらをかく

   agura o kaku

   to sit crosslegged

   なきべそをかく

   nakibeso o kaku

   to be on the verge of tears

   恥(はじ)をかく／恥(はじ)をかかせる

   haji o kaku／haji o kakaseru

   to feel shame in public; to humiliate

Usage notes

• This term is often spelled in hiragana.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "掻く" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms")
Mizenkei ("imperfective")	掻か	かか	kaka
Ren’yōkei ("continuative")	掻き	かき	kaki
Shūshikei ("terminal")	掻く	かく	kaku
Rentaikei ("attributive")	掻く	かく	kaku
Kateikei ("hypothetical")	掻け	かけ	kake
Meireikei ("imperative")	掻け	かけ	kake
Key constructions
Passive	掻かれる	かかれる	kakareru
Causative	掻かせる 掻かす	かかせる かかす	kakaseru kakasu
Potential	掻ける	かける	kakeru
Volitional	掻こう	かこう	kakō
Negative	掻かない	かかない	kakanai
Negative continuative	掻かず	かかず	kakazu
Formal	掻きます	かきます	kakimasu
Perfective	掻いた	かいた	kaita
Conjunctive	掻いて	かいて	kaite
Hypothetical conditional	掻けば	かけば	kakeba