apakah

Indonesian

Etymology

From apa +‎ -kah.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /apa.kah/

Pronoun

apakah

1. (interrogative) be

   Apakah kalian suka akan anime ini? ― Do you like this anime?

Conjunction

apakah

1. whether

   Aku tidak tahu apakah suratku sudah sampai. ― I don't know whether (or not) my letter has arrived.

Further reading

• “apakah”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Malay

Etymology

Affixation of apa +‎ -kah.

Pronunciation

• (schwa-variety) IPA^(key): [a.pə.kah]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• (Baku) IPA^(key): [a.pa.kah]

  • Audio (Malaysia):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -kah, -ah
• Hyphenation: a‧pa‧kah

Interjection

apakah (Jawi spelling اڤاکه)

1. Used to express surprise or disbelief; "what!".

   Apakah, dia yang main tipu rupanya?!

   What, so he was the one who's been cheating?!

Pronoun

apakah (Jawi spelling اڤاکه)

1. Interrogative pronoun used to inquire something about a certain thing; what.

   Apakah nama buku yang kita baca malam semalam?

   What is the name of the book that we read last night?

   • 2003, Nor Arlisa Irena Abu Bakar, Penulis buku politik Kelantan tiada agenda:

     Apakah tujuan Ikmal sebenarnya?

     What is Ikmal's true motive?

2. Interrogative pronoun used to inquire about the truth of a statement; "is it that", "is it the case that".

   Synonym: adakah

   Apakah kita tidak mampu berdikari lagi?

   Is it the case that we can't stand by ourselves anymore?

   • 2017, Mahizan Husain, Cahaya Delima:

     Apakah akhirnya dia akan kembali pada tanah?

     Is it that he will finally return to land?

Usage notes

• The -kah suffix is usually only used in formal or literary speech or writing.
• It is also only used when apa is the subject of the sentence so while it would be used in a sentence like this:

  Apakah nama kereta itu?

  What is the name of that car?

• It wouldn't be used in a sentence like this where apa is the object of the sentence:

  Nama kereta itu apa?

  What is the name of that car? (lit. "The name of that car is what?")

Further reading

• “apa”, in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu [Malay Literary Reference Centre] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017