阿
阿 - Translingual
Han character
阿 (Kangxi radical 170, 阜+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 弓中一弓口 (NLMNR), four-corner 71220, composition ⿰阝可)
Derived characters
Descendants
阿 - Chinese
| simp. and trad. | 阿 | |
|---|---|---|
Glyph origin
| Historical forms of the character 阿 |
|---|
| Warring States |
| Bronze inscriptions |
| Old Chinese | |
|---|---|
| 砢 | *ɡ·raːlʔ |
| 柯 | *kaːl |
| 菏 | *kaːl, *ɡaːl |
| 牁 | *kaːl |
| 滒 | *kaːl |
| 哥 | *kaːl |
| 歌 | *kaːl |
| 謌 | *kaːl |
| 鴚 | *kaːl |
| 哿 | *kaːlʔ |
| 舸 | *kaːlʔ |
| 笴 | *kaːlʔ, *kaːnʔ |
| 軻 | *kʰaːl, *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls |
| 珂 | *kʰaːl |
| 可 | *kʰaːlʔ |
| 岢 | *kʰaːlʔ |
| 坷 | *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls |
| 蚵 | *kʰaːls, *ɡaːl |
| 呵 | *qʰaːl, *qʰaːls |
| 訶 | *qʰaːl |
| 抲 | *qʰaːl |
| 荷 | *qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ |
| 何 | *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ |
| 河 | *ɡaːl |
| 苛 | *ɡaːl |
| 魺 | *ɡaːl |
| 袔 | *ɡaːls |
| 阿 | *qaːl |
| 妸 | *qaːl, *qaːlʔ |
| 疴 | *qaːl, *kʰraːls |
| 鈳 | *qaːl |
| 娿 | *qaːl, *qaːlʔ |
| 痾 | *qaːl |
| 跒 | *kʰraːlʔ |
| 閜 | *qʰraːlʔ |
Phono-semantic compound (形聲, OC *qaːl) : semantic 阜 + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ): Originally meaning a big mound.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): aa3
- Hakka (Sixian, PFS): â
- Min Dong (BUC): ŏ̤
- Min Nan
- Wu (Wiktionary): 1a; 1u; 4aq
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: ā
- Zhuyin: ㄚ
- Tongyong Pinyin: a
- Wade–Giles: a1
- Yale: ā
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: a
- Palladius: а (a)
- Sinological IPA : /ˀä⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: à
- Zhuyin: ㄚˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: à
- Wade–Giles: a4
- Yale: à
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ah
- Palladius: а (a)
- Sinological IPA : /ˀä⁵¹/
- (Chengdu)
- Sichuanese Pinyin: a1
- Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: a
- Sinological IPA : /a⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: aa3
- Yale: a
- Cantonese Pinyin: aa3
- Guangdong Romanization: a3
- Sinological IPA : /aː³³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.
- Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: â
- Hakka Romanization System: a´
- Hagfa Pinyim: a1
- Sinological IPA: /a²⁴/
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: ŏ̤
- Sinological IPA : /o⁵⁵/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
Note:
- a - vernacular;
- o - literary.
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: a1
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: a
- Sinological IPA : /a³³/
- (Teochew)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: 1a; 1u; 4aq
- Sinological IPA : /a̱⁵³/, /v̩ʷ⁵³/, /a̱ʔ⁵⁵/
- (Shanghainese)
Note: 4aq - senses 1, 2, 3 only.
Definitions
阿
- Prefix used in front of the surname or last character of someone’s given name to express familiarity or friendliness (traditionally used in rural or southern Chinese dialects).
- (Hokkien, honorific) Prefix to rank seniority for kinship terms.
- 阿兄 [Hokkien] ― a-hiaⁿ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī] ― eldest brother
- (Northern Wu, including Suzhou Wu) Interrogative particle
- Alternative form of 啊 (ā, á, ǎ, à, a, “particle”).
- Short for 阿富汗 (Āfùhàn, “Afghanistan”).
- Short for 阿爾巴尼亞／阿尔巴尼亚 (Ā'ěrbāníyà, “Albania”).
- Short for 阿拉伯 (Ālābó, “Arabic”).
- atto- (SI unit prefix)
Compounds
|
|
|
Descendants
- → English: Ah
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): o1
- Min Dong (BUC): ŏ̤
- Min Nan
- Wu (Wiktionary): 1o
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: ē
- Zhuyin: ㄜ
- Tongyong Pinyin: e
- Wade–Giles: o1
- Yale: ē
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: e
- Palladius: э (e)
- Sinological IPA : /ˀɤ⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: o1
- Yale: ō
- Cantonese Pinyin: o1
- Guangdong Romanization: o1
- Sinological IPA : /ɔː⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.
- Min Dong
- (Fuzhou)
- Bàng-uâ-cê: ŏ̤
- Sinological IPA : /o⁵⁵/
- (Fuzhou)
- Min Nan
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: o
- Tâi-lô: o
- Phofsit Daibuun: oy
- IPA (Quanzhou): /o³³/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɤ⁴⁴/
- IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei): /o⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: o͘
- Tâi-lô: oo
- Phofsit Daibuun: of
- IPA (Quanzhou): /ɔ³³/
- IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /ɔ⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
Note:
- Quanzhou:
- o - vernacular;
- o͘ - literary.
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: o1
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: o
- Sinological IPA : /o³³/
- (Teochew)
- Wu
- (Shanghainese)
- Wiktionary: 1o
- Sinological IPA : /o⁵³/
- (Shanghainese)
- Middle Chinese: /ʔɑ/
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 阿 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 影 (34) |
| Final (韻) | 歌 (94) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | I |
| Fanqie | 烏何切 |
| Reconstructions | |
| ZhengzhangShangfang | /ʔɑ/ |
| PanWuyun | /ʔɑ/ |
| ShaoRongfen | /ʔɑ/ |
| EdwinPulleyblank | /ʔa/ |
| LiRong | /ʔɑ/ |
| WangLi | /ɑ/ |
| BernardKarlgren | /ʔɑ/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | ē |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | o1 |
- Old Chinese
- (Baxter–Sagart): /*qˤa[j]/, /*ʔˤa/
- (Zhengzhang): /*qaːl/
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | 阿 | 阿 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | ē | ē |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ ʔa › | ‹ ʔa › |
| Old Chinese | /*qˁa[j]/ | /*ʔˁa/ (< *qˁaj) |
| English | slope, river bank | 阿會亘 ēhuìxuān: Skt. ābhāsvara “shining” (E. Hàn) |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. | ||
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 阿 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 7468 |
| Phonetic component | 可 |
| Rime group | 歌 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 阿 |
| Old Chinese | /*qaːl/ |
Definitions
阿
Compounds
Descendants
阿 - Japanese
Kanji
阿
(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)
Readings
Pronunciation
- IPA: [a̠]
Noun
阿 • (a)
- The first letter of Sanskrit, अ (a).
Derived terms
- 阿(あ)字(じ) (aji)
- 阿吽 (aun)
Affix
阿 • (a)
- to flatter; to pander to
- ridge (of roof); eaves
- A prefix expressing familiarity.
- Used as a phonetic element, especially in words from Sanskrit.
- Short for アフリカ (Afurika, “Africa”).
- Short for 阿波国 (Awa no kuni, “Awa Province”).
Derived terms
- 阿呆 (ahō)
阿 - Korean
Hanja
阿, eumhun 언덕 아 (eondeok a) 阿, eumhun 호칭 옥 (hoching ok)