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.
Historical usage in Yōon くゎ Current usage in か.
| Form | Rōmaji | Hiragana | Katakana |
Normal k-
| ka | か | カ |
Normal k-
| kaa
kā, kah | かあ, かぁ
かー | カア, カァ
カー |
Addition dakuten g-
| ga | が | ガ |
Addition dakuten g-
| gaa
gā, gah | があ, がぁ
がー | ガア, ガァ
ガー |
Stroke order
The Hiragana か is made with three strokes:
- A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
- A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.
- A small curved line on the right.
The Katakana カ is made with two strokes:
- A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
- A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.
Other communicative representations
