Ka (hiragana: か, katakana: カ) is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. Both represent [ka]. The shapes of these kana both originate from 加.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021)

Quick Facts transliteration, translit. with dakuten ...

ka
hiragana katakana
transliteration	ka
translit. with dakuten	ga
translit. with handakuten	(nga)
hiragana origin	加
katakana origin	加
Man'yōgana	可 何 加 架 香 蚊 迦
Voiced Man'yōgana	我 何 賀
spelling kana	為替のカ (Kawase no "ka")

Close

The character can be combined with a dakuten, to form が in hiragana, ガ in katakana and ga in Hepburn romanization. The phonetic value of the modified character is [ɡa] in initial positions and varying between [ŋa] and [ɣa] in the middle of words.

A handakuten (゜) does not occur with ka in normal Japanese text, but it may be used by linguists to indicate a nasal pronunciation [ŋa].

か is the most commonly used interrogatory particle. It is also sometimes used to delimit choices.

が is a Japanese case marker, as well as a conjunctive particle. It is used to denote the focus of attention in a sentence, especially to the grammatical subject.

The Hiragana か is made with three strokes:

1. A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
2. A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.
3. A small curved line on the right.

The Katakana カ is made with two strokes:

1. A horizontal line which turns and ends in a hook facing left.
2. A curved vertical line that cuts through the first line.