ああ

See also: Appendix:Variations of "aa"

Japanese

Etymology 1

Duplication of distal demonstrative pronoun あ (a, “that, yon”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [a̠ː]
(Tokyo) ああ [àá] (Heiban – [0])^[2]^[1]

(Kyōto) ああ [áá] (Kōki – [0])^[3]^[1]

Adverb

ああ • (ā)

in that other way
Synonym: あの様に (ano yō ni)

Derived terms

ああ言(い)えばこう言(い)う (ā ieba kō iu)

Related terms

こう (kō, “in this way”)
そう (sō, “in that way”)
どう (dō, “in which way”)

Japanese correlatives
		Demonstrative			Interrogative
		Proximal	Medial	Distal	Interrogative
		此(こ) (ko) “this” (close to speaker)	其(そ) (so) “that” (close to listener)	彼(あ) (a) “that over there” (far from both)	何(ど) (do) “which” (indeterminate, question)
Object	Regular れ (re)	これ (kore)	それ (sore)	あれ (are)	どれ (dore)
Object	Plural れ等(ら) (re ra)	これら (korera)	それら (sorera)	あれら (arera)	—
Determiner	の (no)	この (kono)	その (sono)	あの (ano)	どの (dono)
Kind	様(んな) (nna)	こんな (konna)	そんな (sonna)	あんな (anna)	どんな (donna)
Location	処(こ) (ko)	ここ (koko)	そこ (soko)	あそこ (asoko)*	どこ (doko)
Source	っから (kkara)	こっから (kokkara)	そっから (sokkara)	—	どっから (dokkara)
Direction / Human	方(ちら) (chira)	こちら (kochira)	そちら (sochira)	あちら (achira)	どちら (dochira)
Direction / Human	方(なた) (nata)	こなた (konata)	そなた (sonata)	あなた (anata)	どなた (donata)
Human (derogatory)	奴(いつ) (itsu)	こいつ (koitsu)	そいつ (soitsu)	あいつ (aitsu)	どいつ (doitsu)
Manner	ー (Chōonpu)	斯(こ)う (kō)	然(そ)う (sō)	如彼(ああ) (ā)	如何(どう) (dō)
Degree	れ位(くらい) (re kurai)	これくらい (kore kurai)	それくらい (sore kurai)	あれくらい (are kurai)	どれくらい (dore kurai)
	れ丈(だけ) (re dake)	これだけ (kore dake)	それだけ (sore dake)	あれだけ (are dake)	どれだけ (dore dake)
	れ程(ほど) (re hodo)	これほど (kore hodo)	それほど (sore hodo)	あれほど (are hodo)	どれほど (dore hodo)

* irregular; dialectally 彼処(あこ) (ako)

Kanji may be used, but they are almost always spelled in hiragana.

Etymology 2

Alternative spellings
あぁ嗚呼 (literary) 噫 (literary)

Duplication of interjection あ (a).

Compare English ah.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [a̠ː]
(Tokyo) ああ [áꜜà] (Atamadaka – [1])^[2]^[5]^[4]

(Kyōto) ああ [áꜜà] (Kōki)^[3]^[4]

(Kyōto) ああ [áá] (Kōki – [0])^[3]

Interjection

ああ • (ā)

oh!, ah!
1. expresses surprise
2. expresses affirmation
3. used to call attention
4. expresses a grunt or pain
(colloquial) expresses a calm positive response: yeah
ああ、そのとおりだ。 ― Ā, sono tōri da. ― Yeah, precisely.

Derived terms

噫(ああ)無(む)情(じょう) (Ā Mujō)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 “ああ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 “ああ【嗚呼】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[NKD2O_adverb-1] 1.0 ^1.1 “ああ”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[1] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KHK-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 Nakai, Yukihiko, editor (2002), 京阪系アクセント辞典 [A Dictionary of Tone on Words of the Keihan-type Dialects] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Bensei, →ISBN

[NKD2O_interjection-4] 4.0 ^4.1 “ああ【嗚呼】”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎^[2] (in Japanese), 2nd edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2000-2002, released online 2007, →ISBN, concise edition entry available here

[NHK-5] NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

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