啊 - Translingual

Han character

(Kangxi radical 30, +8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 口弓中口 (RNLR), four-corner 61020, composition )

啊 - Chinese

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲) : semantic (mouth) + phonetic (OC *qaːl).

Pronunciation 1

  • Mandarin
    • (Pinyin): ā (a1)
    • (Zhuyin):
    • Cantonese (Jyutping): aa1
    • Min Nan
      • (Hokkien, POJ): a / ah / --ah
      • (Teochew, Peng'im): a7
    • Wu (Wiktionary): 0a

    Definitions

    1. Used by itself to express surprise. ah, oh, ha
    2. Used to express affirmation or commandment.

    Pronunciation 2

    • Mandarin
      • (Pinyin): á (a2)
      • (Zhuyin): ㄚˊ
    • Cantonese (Jyutping): aa2
    • Wu (Wiktionary): 0a

    Definitions

    1. Used to indicate doubt or questioning. what?, huh?, eh

    Pronunciation 3

    • Mandarin
      • (Pinyin): ǎ (a3)
      • (Zhuyin): ㄚˇ

    Definitions

    1. Used to indicate puzzled surprise. what? oh? huh?

    Pronunciation 4

    • Mandarin
      • (Pinyin): à (a4)
      • (Zhuyin): ㄚˋ
    • Cantonese (Jyutping): aa6
    • Wu (Wiktionary): 0a; 0hha

    Definitions

    1. Used to indicate agreement/approval. ah
      •    À, hǎo ba.   Well, OK.

    Pronunciation 5

    • Mandarin
      • (Pinyin): a (a5a0)
      • (Zhuyin): ˙ㄚ
      • Cantonese (Jyutping): aa3
      • Wu (Wiktionary): 0a; 0hha

      Definitions

      1. Sentence-final particle expressing surprise.
      2. Sentence-final particle expressing exclamation, excitement or enthusiasm.
      3. Sentence-final particle softening the request.
      4. Used in enumerations, for confirmation (often untranslated).
      5. on and on, continuously

      Usage notes

      In Standard Mandarin, this toneless particle is found in complementary distribution with several other particles, governed by the nature of the preceding syllable. However, this distinction is not strictly reflected in writing, and tends to an all-encompassing particle. Thus it may carry the pronunciation of any of its variants below in actual speech:

      • -ng, ci, zi, si, chi, zhi, shi + [a] → (a)
      • -a, -o, -e, -i, -ü + [a] → (ya)
      • -u, -ao + [a] → (wa)
      • -n + [a] → (na)

      Synonyms

      • (Cantonese)

      Compounds

      Descendants

      • English: ah (Singapore, Malaysia)

      啊 - Japanese

      Kanji

      (uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

      1. Exclamatory particle

      Readings

      啊 - Korean

      Hanja

      (a) (hangeul , revised a, McCuneReischauer a)

      1. love

      啊 - Vietnamese

      Alternative forms

      Han character

      : Hán Việt readings: a : Nôm readings: a[1], à[1], ơ, [1]

      Interjection

      1. Nôm form of a (Used in the beginning of a sentence to indicate questioning: ah, oh, ha).
        • A khốn tôi !Ha! I'm so unlucky!
      Meaning and Definition of 啊
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