Kanji Kaisen

漢字Kanji · in Nature & Elements

阿: Africa, flatter

Also: fawn upon, corner, nook, recess

JLPT N18 strokesName kanji (jinmeiyō)Your ink: 白 Not met

⻖ carries the meaning · 可 gives the sound

8 strokes

One reading, and the words that use it

アa · on'yomi · in compounds

  • 阿あfirst Sanskrit alphabet letter
  • 阿兄あけいelder brother; my dear brother

Special readingsThese words are read as a whole, not from the readings above.

  • 四阿あずまやarbor; arbour; bower

Also read オ, おもねる, くま, with no example words in our sources. Words: JMdict, EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Learn it 4 steps
Print sheet Present
成り立ち

Where it comes from

Memory story · made up to help you remember

“Climb high! This radical represents the natural landscape of mounds, hills, and the protective physical barriers they provide for human settlements.”
More in the 阝 hill story
繋がり
Ink shades, lightest to darkest: 白 Not met, 淡 Met, 中 Learning, 濃 Familiar, 印 Mastered
⻖

Also built on hill (⻖)

All 29
可

Also built on can (可)

The 可 family reads カ (ka); 阿 is read ア、オ.

Also read ア

1 kanji shares this on'yomi

Also read オ

4 kanji share this on'yomi

Easy to confuse

The difference, side by side
阿 Africa · ⻖
vs何 what · 亻
阿 has ⻖ where 何 has 亻.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · ā

Same form: 阿 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).

Simplified
阿 mainland China, Singapore
Traditional
阿 Taiwan, Hong Kong

Pinyin ā most common reading

Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.

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