Chinese

啊

ā
Used as an initial interjection particle to express surprise. ah, oh, ha
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 2
  • TOCFL 3
  • radical 口
  • 11 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Etymology 1

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声): semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 阿 (OC *qaːl).

Etymology 7

From 下 (ha) (Chiang, 2013).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”
  • soundChinese阿 “Prefix used in terms of address (kinship terms, surnames, given names), usually to express familiar…”
    • meaningChinese阜 “mound”
    • soundChinese可 “can; may; be able to”
      • soundChinese丂 “the appearance of air which is to be released”
        • componentChinese𠃑
        • componentChinese一 “one”

Words built on it: 啦

Sources