啊

啊 · a

exclamatory particle

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

exclamatory particle

Mandarin
a
Cantonese
aa1

Unihan definitions and selected character readings. Read the word to establish its pronunciation in context.

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 啊 in other language traditions. These are character-level records, not word translations or interchangeable pronunciations.

Japanese 日本語

Grouped by the source’s kana notation; no frequency ranking is implied.

On’yomi · katakana

ア

Katakana generally indicates on’yomi; hiragana generally indicates kun’yomi. The source does not identify everyday, rare, historical or name use per reading. Kana strings are preserved, including any written endings; consult a Japanese word entry for actual use.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kJapanese ↗ · provisional property

ア

Korean 한국어

Hanja readings · Hangul

아

Source codes are separated below. They are neither sounds nor tones; a character reading alone does not specify a whole word’s pronunciation.

Reading sources explained
아
Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

아:N

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Character readings · Quốc ngữ

à

Vietnamese readings associated with this Han character. This field alone does not establish word meanings, current usage, or a complete account of Hán-Nôm reading traditions.

Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kVietnamese ↗ · provisional property

à

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+554A
Radical
口 · 30
Strokes
10 · Unihan
Residual
8

Source record · Unihan 17.0. Individual senses and historical claims have not yet been reviewed by zimai.

Stroke order

10 strokes
啊
Strokes
10
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

10 strokes in writing order. Play to watch them, or Step through one at a time.

Modern stroke order; regional conventions can differ. Stroke medians: Make Me a Hanzi via HanziLookupJS, drawn as an even pen line.

Graphical structure

⿰口阿(GHTJKV)
How to read these symbols

⿰ left–right · ⿱ above–below · ⿻ overlap. Dotted boxes indicate positions, not missing characters. Each symbol describes the components that follow it; nested symbols describe a component in more detail. Source codes identify alternative analyses, not a writing sequence or an etymology.

BabelStone IDS · 2025-06-27. Region tags are preserved; 〾 marks approximation and {n} identifies an unencoded source component. These describe graphical structure, not historical derivation.

Words & connections

Words using 啊

Character connections

No reverse component match in this collection.

History & distinctions

Related forms

No simplified/traditional variant property is retained for this record.

Historical readings

Middle Chinese
'a · 烏何 反切 · #738

Guangyun-based transcriptions · PHONO-ML · CC BY 4.0. These describe historical reading categories, not modern word pronunciation.

Source row & reading categories

CSV line 6046 · 'a = 果開一平歌影

Automatically generated in the source dataset; the authors checked a subset and acknowledge possible errors. All source readings are retained separately. Notation & method ↗

Sources & reference

Evidence & next depth

Source editions & exact scope ↗
Retained Unihan properties
kMandarin
a
kCantonese
aa1
kDefinition
exclamatory particle
kTotalStrokes
10
kRSUnicode
30.8
kGradeLevel
3
kTGH
2013:1915

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
è,ā,á,ǎ,à,a 10634.180
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
ā 0002.010 · á 0002.050 · ǎ 0002.060 · à 0002.070 · a 0002.080
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
ā 001.030 · á 001.060 · ǎ 001.070 · à 001.080 · a 001.090
Mandarin / Cantonese · SMSZD
ā粵aa1 á粵aa2 ǎ粵aa2 à粵aa3 a粵aa3
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 啊 ↗

The attributed sentence collection is still small; this spelling has no retained example yet.

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
8dictionary records using 啊0forms using this shape0attributed sound links
⿰ Left / right

Shape description
口 beside 阿 · the shape used in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam
Source notation ^⿰口阿$(GHTJKV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 8 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿰口阿$(GHTJKV)

All alternatives are retained. Only the first description drives component search and graphical links. Counts describe this snapshot, not frequency. Evidence and method.