阿

阿 · ā

prefix for people's names; used in transliteration

Entry ↗

Meanings & readings

Meaning & readings

prefix for people's names; used in transliteration

Mandarin
ā
Cantonese
aa3

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

Readings in Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese

Readings recorded for 阿 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

アアクアチオク

Kun’yomi · hiragana

おもねるくまお

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 アク アチ オク おもねる くま お

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
KS X 1001 (0) · Personal-name Hanja (N)
Source record & scope

Unicode Unihan 17.0.0 · kHangul ↗ · provisional property

아:0N

Vietnamese Tiếng Việt

Not recorded for this exact character in this dataset. This does not mean the language has no reading.

Form & structure

Writing & identity

Unicode
U+963F
Radical
阜 · 170
Strokes
7 · Unihan
Residual
5

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

Stroke order

7 strokes
阿
Strokes
7
Convention
PRC · Make Me a Hanzi

7 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

⿰阝可(GHTJKPV)
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 阿

Character connections

4 catalogue records include this shape in their first retained IDS. Graphical containment does not imply shared etymology.

Component roles · attributed

Source analyses, kept separate from modern IDS. CJKVI labels are not individually verified historical conclusions. Evidence & limits ↗

Follow this component

Reverse links to attributed component analyses. Open each character for its role, source and words. Shared components do not establish word ancestry.

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 6037 · '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
ā
kCantonese
aa3
kDefinition
prefix for people's names; used in transliteration
kTotalStrokes
7
kRSUnicode
170.5
kGradeLevel
5
kTGH
2013:913

Readings across dictionaries

Hanyu Da Zidian
ē,ě,ā,ǎ,à 64119.110
Xiandai Hanyu · 1983
ā 0001.010 · a 0002.081 · ē 0282.010
Tongyong Guifan · 2013
ā 001.020 · ē 086.010
Small numbers locate dictionary entries; 粵 introduces Cantonese. Includes rare or historical readings. Source notation ↗

Reference desk

Sentences in context

Find examples using 阿 ↗

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

Study this character

Structure & connections

0.10
419dictionary records using 阿4forms using this shape2attributed sound links
⿰ Left / right

Shape description
阝 beside 可 · the same shape in all seven regional standards (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam)
Source notation ^⿰阝可$(GHTJKPV)
BabelStone · 2025-06-27. Encoded shape and region tags; graphical analysis does not establish historical function.

Decompose & trace ↗Browse all 419 word records ↗Explore sound families ↗Component search ↗
Retained descriptions & scope

^⿰阝可$(GHTJKPV)

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