Definify.com

Definition 2025

阿

阿

Translingual

Stroke order

Han character

阿 (radical 170 阜+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 弓中一弓口 (NLMNR), four-corner 71220, composition ⿰阝可)

Descendants

References

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

Chinese

simp. and trad.
 阿

Glyph origin

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

Pronunciation 1

Definitions

阿

  1. Used in front of persons' given names or kinship terms to express familiarity (traditionally in rural or southern Chinese dialects).
    阿爸  ―  ābà  ―  Dad
    阿扁  ―  Ā Biǎn  ―  A-Bian (Chen Shui-bian)
    阿甘  ―  Ā Gān  ―  A-Gump (Forrest Gump)
  2. Alternative form of 啊 (ā,á,ǎ,à,a, “particle”).
  3. Short for 阿富汗 (Āfùhàn, “Afghanistan”).
  4. Short for 阿爾巴尼亞／阿尔巴尼亚 (Ā'ěrbāníyà, “Albania”).
  5. Short for 阿拉伯 (Ālābó, “Arabic”).

Descendants

  • English: Ah

Pronunciation 2

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
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
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		 /*qˤa[j]/ /*ʔˤa/ (< *qˤaj)
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
  2. mountain
  3. fine silks
  4. bend; corner
  5. waterside
  6. nearby; near
  7. A surname​.
  8. to flatter; to pander to
    阿諛奉承 / 阿谀奉承  ―  ēyúfèngchéng  ―  sweet-talking
  9. to be unfairly partial to
  10. Alternative form of 屙 (ē, “to excrete”).

Compounds

Japanese

Kanji

阿

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

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

Readings

Compounds

Korean

Hanja

阿 • ‎(a, ok) (hangeul 아, 옥, revised a, ok, McCune-Reischauer a, ok, Yale a, ok)

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

Compounds

Vietnamese

Han character

阿 (a, à)

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

Similar Results