が

See also: か and か゚

が U+304C, が HIRAGANA LETTER GA Composition: か [U+304B] + ◌゙ [U+3099] ← か [U+304B] Hiragana き → [U+304D]

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

The hiragana character か (ka) with a dakuten (゛).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɡa̠]

• IPA^(key): [ŋa̠] (morpheme-medial alternative pronunciation)

Syllable

が (romaji ga)

1. The hiragana syllable が (ga). Its equivalent in katakana is ガ (ga).

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

From Proto-Japonic *-nka.

Particle

が • (ga) 

1. Indicates the subject of a sentence.

   猫(ねこ)が餌(えさ)を食(た)べた。

   Neko ga esa o tabeta.

   The cat [is the thing that] ate the cat food.

   犬(いぬ)がいる。

   Inu ga iru.

   There is a dog.

   木(き)がある。

   Ki ga aru.

   There is a tree.

   • 2012, まらしぃ (lyrics), “空想少女への恋手紙”‎^[1]:

     宛先(あてさき)が君(きみ)のラブレターは　どこに出(だ)せば届(とど)くのかな

     atesaki ga kimi no rabu retā wa doko ni daseba todoku no ka na

     As for this love letter whose destination is you, where should I post it that it may reach you?

2. (formal) conjunction ("but")

   犬(いぬ)は好(す)きだが、猫(ねこ)は嫌(きら)いだ。

   Inu wa suki da ga, neko wa kirai da.

   I like dogs but I hate cats.

3. (historical, now Kagoshima) possessive used to connect nouns, most often seen in place names as ヶ.

   我(われ)々(われ)が心(こころ)

   wareware ga kokoro

   our [collective] heart

   富士見(ふじみ)ヶ丘(おか)

   Fujimigaoka

   Fuji View Hill

   関(せき)ヶ原(はら)

   Sekigahara

   Gateway Plains (site of the Battle of Sekigahara)

   おやっが

   oyagga

   father's (Kagoshima dialect)

   あにょが

   anyoga

   brother's (Kagoshima dialect)

Alternative forms

• (historical possessive): ヶ (ga)

See also

• ぎゃ (gya)
• は (wa)

Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of が – see the following entries.

【画】2 [noun] picture, drawing, painting [noun] movie, film, video [suffix] genre or style of painting 【芽】4 [affix] bud; sprout; shoot 【我】6 [noun] the ego, self [noun] self-righteousness [noun] (Buddhism) obstinacy [noun] (Hinduism) atman [affix] self, oneself, myself [affix] egotism, selfishness [affix] (Buddhism) atman 【牙】S [affix] an animal's fang or tusk [affix] an elephant's tusk: ivory [affix] a tooth 【瓦】S [affix] roof tile [affix] Used phonetically. 【雅】S [adjective] elegant [noun] elegance 【餓】S [affix] hungry; hunger 【臥】J [affix] to bend down; to lie down; to prostrate 【俄】J [affix] sudden, abrupt, unexpected 【駕】J [noun] vehicle; horse-drawn carriage 【蛾】H [noun] a moth (insect similar to a butterfly) Alternative spelling ガ

(This term, が, is an alternative spelling of the above Sino-Japanese terms. For a list of all kanji read as が, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as が.)

(The following entries are uncreated: 賀, 峨, 衙.)

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Okinawan

Etymology 1

From Proto-Ryukyuan *ga, from Proto-Japonic *-nka (“nominative and genitive case marker”). Cognate with Japanese が (ga).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡa/

Particle

が (rōmaji ga)

1. genitive case marker
   1. Indicates possession: of, -'s

      彼 (あり)が書物 (しむち)

      ari-ga shimuchi

      His book

2. nominative case marker
   1. Indicates the subject of a sentence.

      彼 (あり)が来 (ち)ゃん。

      Ari-ga chan.

      He came.

      学生 (がくそー)が毎日 (めーなち)学校 (がっこー)んかい行 (い)ちゃびーん。

      Gakusō-ga mēnachi gakkō-nkai ichabīn.

      The students go to school everyday.

3. particle indicating purpose/intent; for; to

   魚 (いゆ)取 (とぅ)いが行 (い)ちゅん。

   Iyu tui-ga ichun.

   I will go (to) catch a fish.

Usage notes

• が (ga) is used for personal names or pronouns, ぬ (nu) is used otherwise. See *ga for details.

Etymology 2

Cognate with Japanese か (ka).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡa/

Particle

が (rōmaji ga)

1. final interrogative particle, similar to a question mark ("?"). Appear only in wh-questions,but followed by やー can be used in other interrogations.

   今日 (ちゅー)や何 (ぬー)さびたが？

   Chū-ya nū sabitaga?

   What did you do today?

References

• “が” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “が” in JLect - Japonic Languages and Dialects Database Dictionary, 2019.
• “ガ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary.