# 啊

| 啊 | U+554A, &#21834; CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-554A |
| ← 啉 [U+5549] | CJK Unified Ideographs | 啋 → [U+554B] |

## Translingual
### Han character

啊 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+8, 11 strokes, cangjie input 口弓中口 (RNLR), four-corner 6102$_0$, composition ⿰口阿)

#### References

* Kangxi Dictionary: 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
### Glyph origin

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

### Etymology 1
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): ā (a$^1$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄚ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): aa$^1$
* Southern Min
    (Hokkien, POJ): a / ah / --a / --ah
    (Teochew, Peng'im): a$^7$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^0$a
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: ā
*** Zhuyin: ㄚ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: a
*** Wade–Giles: a$^1$
*** Yale: ā
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: a
*** Palladius: а (a)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: aa$^1$
*** Yale: ā
*** Cantonese Pinyin: aa$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: a$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /aː⁵⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese, Philippines)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: a
*** Tâi-lô: a
*** Phofsit Daibuun: af
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Taipei, Kaohsiung): /a⁴⁴/
*** IPA (Quanzhou, Philippines): /a³³/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ah
*** Tâi-lô: ah
*** Phofsit Daibuun: aq
*** IPA (Taipei, Kaohsiung): /aʔ³²/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Philippines)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: --a
*** Tâi-lô: --a
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: --ah
*** Tâi-lô: --ah
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: a$^7$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ā
*** Sinological IPA : /a¹¹/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^0$a
*** MiniDict: a
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^0$a
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /a/

#### Definitions

啊
* Used by itself to express surprise. ah, oh, ha
       Ā! Wǒ yòu yíng le! [Pinyin]
       Ha! I've won again!
* Used to express affirmation or exhortation.
       Hǎo háizi, guāi, tīnghuà, ā! Bié kū le, ā! [Pinyin]
       Good boy, be good, be obedient okay?! Don't cry okay?!
       Góa chia̍h-pá--lo͘--a [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]
       I've eaten already, OK. / I'm full now, alright.
    From: 2004, 《家有儿女》, episode 13
    Nǐ duó guāi ya, nǐ shì māma zuì guāi de háizi le, ā! [Pinyin]
    You're so good, you're your mother's most obedient child, huh?!
    From: 2004, 《家有儿女》, episode 15
    Āi, nǐ shénme shíhou chōu kòngr gěi wǒmen Jiājia fùxí fùxí gōngkè, ràng tā tígāo tígāo xuéxí shuǐpíng ā! [Pinyin]
    Hey, when you take the time to give our Jiajia review homework, let her improve her studies, eh?!

### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): á (a$^2$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄚˊ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): aa$^2$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^0$a
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: á
*** Zhuyin: ㄚˊ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: á
*** Wade–Giles: a$^2$
*** Yale: á
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ar
*** Palladius: а (a)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä³⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: aa$^2$
*** Yale: á
*** Cantonese Pinyin: aa$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: a$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /aː³⁵/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^0$a
*** MiniDict: a
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^0$a
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /a/

#### Definitions

啊
* Used to indicate doubt or questioning. what?, huh?, eh
       Á? Nǐ shuō shénme? [Pinyin]
       Huh? What did you say?

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): ǎ (a$^3$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄚˇ
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: ǎ
*** Zhuyin: ㄚˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: ǎ
*** Wade–Giles: a$^3$
*** Yale: ǎ
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: aa
*** Palladius: а (a)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä²¹⁴/

#### Definitions

啊
* Used to indicate puzzled surprise. what? oh? huh?
       Ǎ! Zhēn yǒu zhè shìr? [Pinyin]
       What? Is that really so?

### Etymology 4
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): à (a$^4$)
    (Zhuyin): ㄚˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): aa$^6$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^0$a; $^0$gha
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: à
*** Zhuyin: ㄚˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: à
*** Wade–Giles: a$^4$
*** Yale: à
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ah
*** Palladius: а (a)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: aa$^6$
*** Yale: ah
*** Cantonese Pinyin: aa$^6$
*** Guangdong Romanization: a$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /aː²²/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^0$a; $^0$gha
*** MiniDict: a; gha
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^0$a; $^0$hha
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /a/, /ɦa/

#### Definitions

啊
* Used to indicate agreement/approval. ah
    啊，好吧。 ― À, hǎo ba. ― Well, OK.

### Etymology 5
#### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): a (a$^5$／a$^0$)
    (Zhuyin): ˙ㄚ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): aa$^3$
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^0$a; $^0$gha
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: a
*** Zhuyin: ˙ㄚ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: å
*** Wade–Giles: a$^5$
*** Yale: a
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: .a
*** Palladius: а (a)
*** Sinological IPA : /ˀä/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: aa$^3$
*** Yale: a
*** Cantonese Pinyin: aa$^3$
*** Guangdong Romanization: a$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /aː³³/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^0$a; $^0$gha
*** MiniDict: a; gha
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^0$a; $^0$hha
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /a/, /ɦa/

#### Definitions

啊
* Sentence-final particle expressing surprise.
    你不來啊？／你不来啊？ ― Nǐ bù lái a? ― So you're not coming?
* Sentence-final particle expressing exclamation, excitement or enthusiasm.
    多好的天兒啊！／多好的天儿啊！ ― Duō hǎo de tiānr a! ― What a fine day!
    謝謝啊／谢谢啊 ― xièxiè a ― Thanks.
* Sentence-final particle softening the request.
       Lǎo Wáng a, zhè kě bùxíng a! [Pinyin]
       Wang, this won't do!
* Used in enumerations, for confirmation (often untranslated).
       Qián a, shū a, biǎo a, wǒ dōu diū le. [Pinyin]
       Money, books, watch, I lost everything.
* on and on, continuously

#### Usage notes

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 啊 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] → 啊 (a)
* -a, -o, -e, -i, -ü + [a] → 呀 (ya)
* -u, -ao + [a] → 哇 (wa)
* -n + [a] → 哪 (na)

#### Synonyms

* (Cantonese) 呀

#### Compounds

* 啊呀 (āyā)
* 啊哈 (āhā)
* 啊唷 (āyō)
* 啊喲 / 啊哟 (āyō)
* 嗯啊
* (Hokkien) 揀啊揀，揀著一個賣龍眼 / 揀啊揀，揀著一个賣龍眼 / 拣啊拣，拣着一个卖龙眼 (kéng--ah kéng, kéng-tio̍h chi̍t ê bē lêng-géng) (Min Nan)

#### Descendants

* → English: ah (Singapore, Malaysia)

### Etymology 6

From 下 (ha) (Chiang, 2013).

#### Pronunciation

* Hakka
    (Sixian, PFS): a
    (Hailu, HRS): a$^˖$
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: a
*** Hakka Romanization System: a
*** Hagfa Pinyim: a$^4$
*** Sinological IPA: /a⁵⁵/
** (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
*** Hakka Romanization System: a$^˖$
*** Sinological IPA: /a³³/

#### Definitions

啊
* (Hakka) Used between a verb and a complement to indicate that something has happened within a short time and/or is immediately followed by another event.
** 2015, 黃瑋傑 (lyrics and music), “天光日”, in 《天光。日》‎, performed by 黃瑋傑:
       1998 ngiàn, ngài chhut-ngoi thu̍k-sû m̀ tî yán, kûi-a-to vuk-hâ, chhiu liâng to yit liâng sâm [Pha̍k-fa-sṳ]
       In 1998, I went away from home to study faraway. Once I went back home, I got a shirt.

### References

* “啊”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.

## Japanese
### Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)
* Exclamatory particle

#### Readings

* Go-on: あ (a)
* Kan-on: あ (a)
* Kun: こえ (koe, 啊)

## Korean
### Hanja

啊 • (a) (hangeul 아, revised a, McCune–Reischauer a)
* love

## Vietnamese
### Alternative forms

* 啞 (ạ)
* 亞 (a)

### Han character

啊: Hán Việt readings: a
啊: Nôm readings: a, à, ơ, ạ

### Interjection

啊
* chữ Nôm form of a (“Used in the beginning of a sentence to indicate questioning: ah, oh, ha”).
    啊困碎！ ― A khốn tôi ! ― Ha! I'm so unlucky!

### References

* 1 2 3 4 5 Trần (2004).
* 1 2 Nguyễn et al. (2009).
* ↑ Génibrel (1898).
* 1 2 Nguyễn (2014).