# を

| を | U+3092, &#12434; HIRAGANA LETTER WO |
| ← ゑ [U+3091] | Hiragana | ん → [U+3093] |

## Japanese
### Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 遠 in the cursive sōsho style.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [β̞o̞]
   * (obsolete, except in careful speech or when singing)
* IPA: [o̞]
* Audio:(file)

#### Syllable

を • (o)
* (obsolete except as a particle) The hiragana syllable を (o). Its equivalent in katakana is ヲ (o). It is the forty-seventh syllable in the gojūon order; its position is わ行お段 (wa-gyō o-dan, “row wa, section o”).

##### Usage notes

In most cases outside its use as a particle, it is replaced by お.

##### 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, こ𛄲 (𛄲)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, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ
* うぉ (wo)

### Etymology 2

/wo/ → /o/
From Proto-Japonic *wo. Cognate with Okinawan ゆ (yu).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: [o̞]
** The historical spelling is retained despite the modern pronunciation (as with は (wa) and へ (e)).
** In songs or hyperformal contexts, the old pronunciation wo may be used.

#### Particle

を • (o)
* A case particle.
** (with transitive verb) An accusative case particle: a grammatical marker following the direct object of a verb.
    私(わたし)がリンゴを食(た)べる。
       Watashi ga ringo o taberu.
       I eat an apple.
    私(わたし)をリンゴが食(た)べる。
       Watashi o ringo ga taberu.
       An apple eats me.
**   * As shown in the above two usage examples, Japanese sentences use particles to indicate subject and object, instead of using word order as in English.
*** 794, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki, page 85:渉險 上往也下左何之伎乎(please add an English translation of this quotation)
** (with intransitive verb) away from, off
    席(せき)を立(た)つ
       seki o tatsu
       to stand up from the seat
** (with intransitive verb) along, following a specified route, track, orbit, etc.
    廊(ろう)下(か)を走(はし)る
       rōka o hashiru
       to run down the corridor
    街(まち)を歩(ある)く
       machi o aruku
       to walk down the street
    北(ほっ)海(かい)道(どう)を流(なが)れる川(かわ)
       Hokkaidō o nagareru kawa
       a river that flows through Hokkaido
    地(ち)球(きゅう)のまわりを月(つき)がまわる。
       Chikyū no mawari o tsuki ga mawaru.
       The Moon orbits the Earth.
*** 1908, Natsume Sōseki, Yume Jūya [Ten Nights of Dreaming]‎:
    大(おお)空(ぞら)を落(お)ちている間(ま)
       ōzora o ochiteiru ma
       while it was falling through the sky
* (archaic) A conjunctive particle, usually following the rentaikei of classical inflectible words.
** Resultative conjunction: expresses reason or cause.
*** c. 1001–1014, Murasaki Shikibu, Genji Monogatari
    わざとあめるを、早(はや)うものせよかし。
       Wazato a meru o, hayō monoseyo kashi.
       It seems to be a special [invitation], so please go early.
** Contrastive conjunction.
*** 1890, Mori Ōgai, The Dancing Girl:
    我(わが)身(み)だに知(し)らざりしを、怎(いか)でか人(ひと)に知(し)らるべき。
       Wagami dani shirazarishi o, ika de ka hito ni shiraru beki.
       Even I myself didn't know, so how could others know?
* (archaic, literary) An interjectory particle, expressing sigh or emphasis.
** c. 759, Man’yōshū, book 2, poem 108:, text
    我(あ)を待(ま)つと君(きみ)が濡(ぬ)れけむあしひきの山(やま)のしづくにならましものを
       A o matsu to / Kimi ga nureken / Ashihiki no / Yama no shizuku ni / naramashi mono o
       You probably got wet while waiting for me; ah, I wish I could become a waterdrop in the mountain.

#### Synonyms

* In highly informal speech, a lengthened vowel may be used instead of を: 手(て)ぇ上(あ)げろ ― tē agero ― raise your hands.

### Etymology 3

For pronunciation and definitions of を – see the following entries. :
| 【小お】1 | [prefix] attached to certain nouns: [prefix] small in shape or scale [prefix] attached to certain names to give expression or feelings (Can we verify this sense?) [prefix] used proverbially to represent "small" or "slight" (Can we verify this sense?) |
| 【悪お】3 | [affix] hate; loathe |
| 【尾お】S | [noun] tail [noun] foot of a mountain [noun] end of something |
| 【男お】1 | [noun] a man [noun] a husband [noun] a male [noun] something large, powerful, or otherwise masculine |
| 【苧お】H | [noun] hemp or ramie [noun] thread made from the outer husk of the stems of hemp or ramie [noun] a textile made from this thread Alternative spelling 麻 |
| 【麻お】S | [noun] the hemp or ramie plant [noun] thread or yarn made from fibers derived from the bark of hemp or ramie stems |
| 【汚お】S | [affix] dirty |
(This term, を (wo), is a historical kana spelling of the above terms.) For a list of all kanji read as を, see Category:Japanese kanji read as を.) :

### References

* Unknown (794) Yoshinori Kobayashi, editor, Shin'yaku Kegonkyō Ongi Shiki (Kojisho Ongi Shūsei) (in Japanese), volume 1, Kyūko Shoin, published 1978, →ISBN.