کیا

Kermanic

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.) Compare Persian کجا (kojâ).

Adverb

کیا (kiyā) (Judeo-Kashani)

1. where

References

• Judeo-Kashani Living Dictionary‎^[1], Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, 2026
• Borjian, Habib (2012), “Judeo-Kashani: A Central Iranian Plateau Dialect”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 132, number 1, American Oriental Society, →DOI

Urdu

Etymology 1

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀓𑀺𑀁 (kiṃ), 𑀓𑀺 (ki), from Sanskrit किम् (kim, “what, which”). Related to کِہ (ki). Compare Nepali क्या (kyā).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kjɑː/

Particle

کْیا • (kyā) (Hindi spelling क्या)

1. initial interrogative particle

   کْیا آپ یَہاں رَہْتے ہَیں؟

   kyā āp yahā̃ rahte ha͠i?

   Do you live here?

   (literally, “[question marker] you here living are?”)

Usage notes

• In this usage, it simply turns the sentence into a yes-or-no question. It can be equated with Arabic هَلْ (hal).
• In casual use, the "yes or no" question marker (in the sense of "is it that?") is usually dropped as intonation is usually sufficient. Compare with the dropping of Persian's yes-no question marker آیا (âyâ).

Pronoun

کْیا • (kyā) (Hindi spelling क्या)

1. what? subjective interrogative pronoun used to refer to inanimate objects or abstract entities, also often used to refer to animals:

   آم کا دام کْیا ہَے؟

   ām kā dām kyā hai?

   What is the price of mangoes?

Declension

Pronoun declension of کیا

	singular	plural
direct	کْیا (kyā)	کْیا (kaun)
indirect	کِس (kis)	کِن (kin)
ergative	کِس نے (kis ne)	کِنَھوں نے (kinhõ ne)
genitive	کس کا (kis kā)	کِن کا (kin kā)
dative	کِسے, کِس کو (kise, kis ko)	کِنْھیں, کِن کو (kinhẽ, kin ko)

See also

• Appendix:Urdu correlatives

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kɪ.jɑː/

Verb

کِیا • (kiyā) (Hindi spelling किया)

1. inflection of کرنا (karnā):
   1. masculine singular perfective participle
   2. masculine singular perfect indicative

Further reading

• Fallon, S. W. (1879), “کيا”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 980
• Platts, John T. (1884), “کيا”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 887
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “کيا”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 513
• “کیا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• John Shakespear (1834), “کيا”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC, page 1421
• “کیا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.