Ka (kana)
か, in hiragana, or カ in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent . 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 in initial positions, and varying between and 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 .
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.
| Form | Rōmaji | Hiragana | Katakana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal k- (か行 ka-gyō) |
Ka | か | カ |
| kaa kā, kah |
かあ, かぁ かー |
カア, カァ カー |
|
| Addition dakuten g- (が行 ga-gyō) |
Ga | が | ガ |
| gaa gā, gah |
があ, がぁ がー |
ガア, ガァ ガー |
Read more about Ka (kana): Stroke Order, Other Communicative Representations