く

See also: ぐ, く゚, 〱, ㄑ, ㇛, and 𡿨

く U+304F, く HIRAGANA LETTER KU ← ぎ [U+304E] Hiragana ぐ → [U+3050]

Japanese

Stroke order

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟ᵝ]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 久 in the cursive sōsho style. Variants include those derived by similar process from 具, 九, 倶, 求 and 供.

Syllable

く (romaji ku)

1. The hiragana syllable く (ku). Its equivalent in katakana is ク (ku). It is the eighth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is か行う段 (ka-gyō u-dan, “row ka, section u”).

Derived terms

• ぐ (gu)

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

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

【九】1 [number]nine [number]ninth [noun]nine [noun]the ninth 【口】1 [noun](Buddhism) the mouth [noun](Buddhism) (by extension) one's speech, one's words [noun]the mouthpiece of a flute [counter]used to count people [counter]used to count per-person portions [noun](Buddhism) the mouth [noun](Buddhism) (by extension) one's speech, one's words [noun]the mouthpiece of a flute [counter]used to count people [counter]used to count per-person portions [counter]used to count open-mouthed containers [counter]used to count bladed weapons or tools 【工】2 【区】3 [noun]ward, section, district 【苦】3 [noun]suffering [noun](Buddhism) dukkha 【久】5 【句】5 [noun]a short section from a longer text: a phrase or clause a sentence or line a passage or paragraph a verse from a song [noun]a short section from a longer text: a phrase or clause a sentence or line a passage or paragraph a verse from a song a stanza from a poem [counter]counter for stanzas from a poem or for haiku 【供】6 【駆】S 【駒】S 【矩】J [affix]carpenter's square [affix]square (shape) [affix]rule; law [noun](astronomy) quadrature 【狗】H 【躯】H [affix]body [counter]counter for Buddhist images 【懼】H

(This term, く, is the hiragana spelling of several Sino-Japanese terms.) For a list of all kanji with on'yomi く, not just those used in Sino-Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji with on reading く.

Etymology 3

Some obsolete inflections.

Verb

く • (ku)

1. 消: disappear
2. 来: come
3. 繰: repeat

Etymology 4

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

Suffix

く • (-ku)

1. (obsolete) A nominalizing suffix in Old Japanese.

Derived terms

• 曰(いわ)く (iwaku)
• 願(ねが)わくは (negawaku wa)
• 思惑(おもわく) (omowaku)
• 恐(おそ)らく (osoraku)