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U+554A, 啊
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-554A

[U+5549]
CJK Unified Ideographs
[U+554B]

Translingual[edit]

Stroke order
11 strokes

Han character[edit]

(Kangxi radical 30, +8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 口弓中口 (RNLR), four-corner 61020, composition )

References[edit]

  • KangXi: page 195, character 4
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3808
  • Dae Jaweon: page 416, character 5
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 634, character 18
  • Unihan data for U+554A

Chinese[edit]

simp. and trad.

Glyph origin[edit]

Phono-semantic compound (形聲): semantic (mouth) + phonetic (OC *qaːl).

Pronunciation 1[edit]


Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

Definitions[edit]

  1. Used by itself to express surprise. ah, oh, ha
      ―  Ā! Wǒ yòu yíng le!  ―  Ha! I've won again!
  2. Used to express affirmation or commandment.
    孩子聽話 [MSC, trad.]
    孩子听话 [MSC, simp.]
    Hǎo háizi, guāi, tīnghuà, ā! Bié kū le, ā! [Pinyin]
    Good boy, be good, be obedient okay?! Don't cry okay?!

Pronunciation 2[edit]


Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

Definitions[edit]

  1. Used to indicate doubt or questioning. what?, huh?, eh
    什麼什么  ―  Á? Nǐ shuō shénme?  ―  Huh? What did you say?

Pronunciation 3[edit]


Definitions[edit]

  1. Used to indicate puzzled surprise. what? oh? huh?
    事兒事儿  ―  Ǎ! Zhēn yǒu zhè shìr?  ―  What? Is that really so?

Pronunciation 4[edit]


Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

Definitions[edit]

  1. Used to indicate agreement/approval. ah
      ―  À, hǎo ba.  ―  Well, OK.

Pronunciation 5[edit]


Note: The zero initial /∅-/ is commonly pronounced with a ng-initial /ŋ-/ in some varieties of Cantonese, including Hong Kong Cantonese.

Definitions[edit]

  1. Sentence-final particle expressing surprise.
      ―  Nǐ bù lái a?  ―  So you're not coming?
  2. Sentence-final particle expressing exclamation, excitement or enthusiasm.
    天兒天儿  ―  Duō hǎo de tiānr a!  ―  What a fine day!
    謝謝谢谢  ―  xièxiè a  ―  Thanks.
  3. Sentence-final particle softening the request.
    不行 [MSC, trad.]
    不行 [MSC, simp.]
    Lǎo Wáng a, zhè kě bùxíng a! [Pinyin]
    Wang, this won't do!
  4. Used in enumerations, for confirmation (often untranslated).
    [MSC, trad.]
    [MSC, simp.]
    Qián a, shū a, biǎo a, wǒ dōu diū le. [Pinyin]
    Money, books, watch, I lost everything.
  5. on and on, continuously

Usage notes[edit]

In Standard Mandarin, this toneless particle is found in complementary distribution with several other particles, governed by the nature of the preceding syllable. However, this distinction is not strictly reflected in writing, and tends to an all-encompassing particle. Thus it may carry the pronunciation of any of its variants below in actual speech:

  • -ng, ci, zi, si, chi, zhi, shi + [a] → (a)
  • -a, -o, -e, -i, -ü + [a] → (ya)
  • -u, -ao + [a] → (wa)
  • -n + [a] → (na)

Synonyms[edit]

  • (Cantonese)

Compounds[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • English: ah (Singapore, Malaysia)

References[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Kanji[edit]

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

  1. Exclamatory particle

Readings[edit]

Korean[edit]

Hanja[edit]

(a) (hangeul , revised a, McCune–Reischauer a)

  1. love

Vietnamese[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Han character[edit]

: Hán Việt readings: a[2][3]
: Nôm readings: a[4][1], à[4][1], ơ[2], [1]

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Interjection[edit]

  1. Nôm form of a (Used in the beginning of a sentence to indicate questioning: ah, oh, ha).
    A khốn tôi !Ha! I'm so unlucky!

References[edit]