けん

See also: げん

Japanese

Etymology 1

/kemu/ → /kem/ → /ken/

Shift from older けむ (kemu, auxiliary suffix for verbs indicating supposition about the past, including supposition about why something may have happened). This phonological shift was apparently already underway during the Heian period (平(へい)安(あん)時(じ)代(だい) (Heian jidai), 794–1185 CE).

Particle

けん • (ken) 

1. (Chūgoku, Shikoku, Kyūshū) because, since, so: presents the preceding clause as the reason for the following clause

   Synonym: から (kara)

   • 1940, Kim Sa-ryang, Genkai-nada Mikkō‎^[1]:

     じゃが今(いま)は内(ない)地(ち)も不(ふ)景(けい)気(き)でがして、屑(くず)屋(や)も駄(だ)目(め)じゃけん、内(ない)地(ち)さ行(い)くなああきらめるがええ

     Jaga ima wa naichi mo fukeiki de gashite, kuzuya mo dame ja ken, naichi sa iku nā akirameru ga ee

     However the mainland economy is also in a recession now and waste collection business does not pay, so you should give up to go to the mainland.

Suffix

けん • (-ken) 

1. (Classical Japanese) alternative form of けむ (kemu, past conjectural ending)

Etymology 2

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

【拳】S [noun] [from 1500s] a fist [noun] [after 1560] any of the martial arts that use the fists for striking, such as 空手 (karate) [noun] [after 1644] any of several finger-shape games, including じゃんけんぽん (jankenpon, “rock paper scissors”) [suffix] (martial arts) used in the names of styles, or moves that involve punching

【兼】S [conjunction] -cum-, concurrently, and; in addition [noun] doing two or more things at the same time [noun] holding two or more government offices at the same time [proper noun] a male given name

【件】5 [noun] case [noun] matter [noun] subject [noun] (informal, always modified with a verb phrase) incident; happening

【軒】S [counter] counter for buildings like houses

【剣】S [noun] a sword, especially one with a double-edged blade [noun] swordsmanship [noun] a bayonet [noun] (entomology) a stinger [noun] (entomology) an ovipositor [noun] a 家紋 (kamon, “family crest”), with varying designs of double-edged blades [proper noun] a male given name Alternative spellings 劔, 劒, 剱

【県】3 [noun] a type of administrative district, including 43 of the 47 prefectures of modern Japan, Chinese counties, French departments, etc.

【腱】H [noun] (anatomy) a tendon

【権】6 [suffix] right to do something, authority

【券】6 [noun] ticket, certificate [noun] bond, coupon [suffix] ticket, certificate

【圏】S [noun] a bounded area, a sphere, a region [noun] (mathematics) category

【見】1 [noun] seeing, looking [noun] a view, perspective, thought, or opinion about something [noun] (noh) the visual impact the performers have on the audience [noun] window-shopping [noun] a window-shopper

【鍵】S [noun] (computing) key [noun] (music) key

【乾】S [affix] the sky

【険】5 [noun] steepness (of mountain); steep land [noun] hardness, difficulty [noun] a cold and severe feeling that appears in the facial and speech expressions; sternness [adjective] stern [adjective] (dialectal, Kōchi) steep

【甄】H [affix] porcelain, ceramic [proper noun] a surname

【券】6 [noun] ticket, certificate [noun] bond, coupon [suffix] ticket, certificate

【賢さとる】S [proper noun] a male given name Alternative spelling まさる

【健】4 [proper noun] a male given name

【堅】S [proper noun] a male given name

【建】4 [proper noun] a male given name

(This term, けん (ken), is the hiragana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as けん, see Category:Japanese kanji read as けん.

(The following entries do not have a page created for them yet: 間, 顕, 壎, 姸.)