阿

阿 U+963F, 阿 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-963F ← 阾 [U+963E] CJK Unified Ideographs 陀 → [U+9640]

Translingual

Stroke order

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

• 啊, 婀, 娿, 痾, 屙, 㢌, 䋪, 錒(锕)
• 𡹣, 𣶰, 𠥍, 𫮄, 𫕖, 𨼼, 𨵌(𬮰)
• 𮥌, 𮀄, 𮀫, 𭊎, 𬯜, 𬁭, 𬯣, 𬯩

Descendants

• ア
• 𛀄

Further reading

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 1348, character 6
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 41599
• Dae Jaweon: page 1850, character 2
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 6, page 4119, character 11
• Unihan data for U+963F

Chinese

simp. and trad.		阿

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 阿
Warring States
Bronze inscriptions

Characters in the same phonetic series (可) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	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／形声, OC *qaːl) : semantic 阜 + phonetic 可 (OC *kʰaːlʔ): Originally meaning a big mound.

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ʔa(ŋ/k)- (“noun prefix”) (STEDT).

“atto-”

Borrowed from English atto-.

Definitions

阿

1. 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).

   alt. forms: 亞／亚 dated, 牙 (yá) Hong Kong Cantonese neologism

   阿爸  ―  ābà  ―  dad

   阿扁  ―  Ā Biǎn  ―  Ah Bian (Chen Shui-bian)

   《阿Q正傳》／《阿Q正传》  ―  “Āqiū Zhèngzhuàn”  ―  The True Story of Ah Q

   • 阿珍愛上了阿強 / 在一個有星星的夜晚 [MSC, trad.]
     阿珍爱上了阿强 / 在一个有星星的夜晚 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2016, 仁科, 茂涛 (lyrics and music), 《阿珍爱上了阿强》, performed by 五条人

     Ā Zhēn àishàng le Ā Qiáng  /  zài yīge yǒu xīngxīng de yèwǎn [Pinyin]

     A Zhen fell in love with A Qiang / One night under a starlit sky

2. (Hokkien, honorific) Prefix to rank seniority for kinship terms.

   阿兄 [Hokkien]  ―  a-hiaⁿ [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  eldest brother

3. (Northern Wu, including Suzhounese) Interrogative particle

   倷阿姓王？ [Suzhounese, trad. and simp.]

   From: 1993, 蘇州方言詞典, page 20

   Is your surname Wang?

4. (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 啊 (ā, á, ǎ, à, a, “particle”).
5. Short for 阿富汗 (Āfùhàn, “Afghanistan”).
6. Short for 阿爾巴尼亞／阿尔巴尼亚 (Ā'ěrbāníyà, “Albania”).
7. Short for 阿拉伯 (Ālābó, “Arabic”).
8. atto- (SI unit prefix)

See also

SI prefix
Last		Next
飛／飞 (fēi)	阿	介/仄

Descendants

• → English: Ah

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ē (e¹)

  (Zhuyin): ㄜ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): o¹
• Eastern Min (BUC): ŏ̤
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): o / o͘

  (Teochew, Peng'im): o¹

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): 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 ^(key): /ˀɤ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: o¹
    • Yale: ō
    • Cantonese Pinyin: o¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: o¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɔː⁵⁵/

Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ŏ̤
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /o⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (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/

Note:

• Quanzhou:
  • o - vernacular;
  • o͘ - literary.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: o¹
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: o
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /o³³/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹o
    • MiniDict: o^平
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹o
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /o⁵³/

---

• Middle Chinese: 'a

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
Baxter	'a
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʔɑ/
Pan Wuyun	/ʔɑ/
Shao Rongfen	/ʔɑ/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʔa/
Li Rong	/ʔɑ/
Wang Li	/ɑ/
Bernard Karlgren	/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

1. big mound; mountain
2. hillside
3. fine silks
4. (literary, of a mountain or stream) bend; corner
5. waterside
6. nearby; near
7. to flatter; to pander to

   阿諛奉承／阿谀奉承  ―  ēyúfèngchéng  ―  sweet-talking

8. to be unfairly partial to
9. (deprecated template usage) Alternative form of 屙 (ē, “to excrete”).
10. a surname

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (阿):

• → Japanese: 阿(あ) (a)
• → Korean: 아(阿) (a)

(deprecated template usage)

Japanese

Kanji

阿

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

Readings

• Go-on: あ (a)
• Kan-on: あ (a)
• Kun: くま (kuma, 阿)、おもねる (omoneru, 阿る)
• Nanori: お (o)、くま (kuma)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
阿
あ Jinmeiyō
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 阿 (MC 'a).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠]

Noun

阿(あ) • (a) 

1. The first letter of Sanskrit, अ (a).

Derived terms

• 阿(あ)字(じ) (aji)
• 阿(あ)吽(うん) (aun)

See also

• 吽(うん) (un)
• 梵(ぼん)字(じ) (bonji)

Affix

阿(あ) • (a) 

1. to flatter; to pander to
2. ridge (of roof); eaves
3. A prefix expressing familiarity.
4. Used as a phonetic element, especially in words from Sanskrit.
5. Short for 阿弗利加 (Afurika, “Africa”).
6. Short for 阿波国 (Awa no kuni, “Awa Province”).

Derived terms

to flatter; to pander to

• 阿(あ)諛(ゆ) (ayu, “flattery”)

phonetic element

• 阿(あ)修(しゅ)羅(ら) (ashura, “Asura”)
• 阿(あ)僧(そう)祇(ぎ) (asōgi, “Asaṃkhyeya”)
• 阿(あ)毘(び)達(だつ)磨(ま) (abidatsuma, “Abhidharma”)
• 阿弗利加(アフリカ) (afurika, “Africa”)
• 阿(あ)片(へん) (ahen, “opium”)
• 阿(あ)弥(み)陀(だ) (amida, “Amitābha”)
• 阿(オ)蘭(ラン)陀(ダ) (oranda, “Holland; The Netherlands”)

others

• 阿(あ)呆(ほう) (ahō)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
阿
くま Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 阿 – see the following entry.

【くま】 [noun] 隈, 曲, 阿: corner, nook, recess [noun] 隈, 曲, 阿: shade, shadow, dark area [noun] 隈, 曲, 阿: dark circles under one's eyes. often clarified as 目の下のくま. Alternative spellings 隈, 曲

(This term, 阿, is an alternative spelling of the above term.)

Korean

Hanja

阿 (eumhun 언덕 아 (eondeok a))
阿 (eumhun 호칭 옥 (hoching ok))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Compounds

• 아편 (阿片, apyeon)

References

• Naver Hanja Dictionary: 阿

Vietnamese

Han character

阿: Hán Việt readings: a, á
阿: Nôm readings: a, à

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

• Nom Foundation