Ka (kana)

ka
hiragana katakana
transliteration	ka
translit. with dakuten	ga
translit. with handakuten	(nga)
hiragana origin	加
katakana origin	加
spelling kana	為替のカ (Kawase no "ka")

か, in hiragana, or カ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent [ka]. The shapes of these kana both originate from 加.

The character can be combined with a dakuten, to form が in hiragana, ガ in katakana, and ga in Hepburn romanization. The phonetic value of the modified character is [ɡa] in initial positions, and varying between [ŋa] and [ɣa] in the middle of words.

A handakuten (゜) does not occur with ka in normal Japanese text, but it may be used by linguists to indicate a nasal pronunciation [ŋa].

か is the most commonly used interrogatory particle. It is also sometimes used to delimit choices.

が is used to denote the focus of attention in a sentence, especially to the grammatical subject.

[Supplementary explanation] Historical usage in Yōon くゎ Current usage in か .

Stroke order

Stroke order in writing か

Stroke order in writing カ

The Hiragana か is made with three strokes:

1. A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
2. A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.
3. A small curved line on the right.

The Katakana カ is made with two strokes:

1. A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
2. A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.

Other communicative representations

• Computer encodings

• Braille

か / カ in Japanese Braille				Other kana based on Braille か
か / カ ka	が / ガ ga	かあ / カー kā	があ / ガー gā	きゃ / キャ kya	ぎゃ / ギャ gya	きゃあ / キャー kyā	ぎゃあ / ギャー gyā

• Japanese semaphore

The Wabun code for か or カ is ・－・・, が or ガ is ・－・・ ・・.

See also

Look up か, が, カ, or ガ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Ga (kana)