Wiktionary

可

See also: 句 and 司
可 U+53EF, 可
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-53EF
← 叮
[U+53EE] 		CJK Unified Ideographs 台 →
[U+53F0]
Text style Emoji style
🉑︎ 🉑️
Text style is forced with ⟨︎⟩ and emoji style with ⟨️⟩.
🉑 U+1F251, 🉑
CIRCLED IDEOGRAPH ACCEPT
[unassigned: U+1F252–U+1F25F]
← 🉐
[U+1F250] 		Enclosed Ideographic Supplement 🉠 →
[U+1F260]

Translingual

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Stroke order
 
Stroke order
 

Han character

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可 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+2, 5 strokes, cangjie input 一弓口 (MNR), four-corner 10620, composition ⿹丁口)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 172, character 12
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3245
  • Dae Jaweon: page 383, character 7
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 567, character 7
  • Unihan data for U+53EF

Chinese

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simp. and trad.
 可

Glyph origin

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Characters in the same phonetic series (可) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 
Old Chinese
砢 *ɡ·raːlʔ
柯 *kaːl
菏 *kaːl, *ɡaːl
牁 *kaːl
滒 *kaːl
哥 *kaːl
歌 *kaːl
謌 *kaːl
鴚 *kaːl
哿 *kaːlʔ
舸 *kaːlʔ
笴 *kaːlʔ, *kaːnʔ
軻 *kʰaːl, *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
珂 *kʰaːl
可 *kʰaːlʔ
岢 *kʰaːlʔ
坷 *kʰaːlʔ, *kʰaːls
蚵 *kʰaːls, *ɡaːl
呵 *qʰaːl, *qʰaːls
訶 *qʰaːl
抲 *qʰaːl
荷 *qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
何 *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ
河 *ɡaːl
苛 *ɡaːl
魺 *ɡaːl
袔 *ɡaːls
阿 *qaːl
妸 *qaːl, *qaːlʔ
疴 *qaːl, *kʰraːls
鈳 *qaːl
娿 *qaːl, *qaːlʔ
痾 *qaːl
跒 *kʰraːlʔ
閜 *qʰraːlʔ

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *kʰaːlʔ) : semantic 口 + phonetic 丂 (OC *kʰluːʔ) with a reference to exhaled air. Perhaps its original meaning was "to sing", then 訶 and 哥 (可 written twice).

Etymology 1

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *m-kal ~ *s-gal (“back (lower); kidney; load; carry”) (STEDT). Cognate with 荷 (OC *qʰaːls, *ɡaːl, *ɡaːlʔ, “to carry”). See there for more.

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • khó/khóⁿ - literary;
  • khóa - vernacular.
Rime
Character 可
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 溪 (29)
Final (韻) 歌 (94)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) I
Fanqie 枯我切
Baxter khaX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang 		/kʰɑX/
Pan
Wuyun 		/kʰɑX/
Shao
Rongfen 		/kʰɑX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank 		/kʰaX/
Li
Rong 		/kʰɑX/
Wang
Li 		/kʰɑX/
Bernhard
Karlgren 		/kʰɑX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex 		kě
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex 		ho2
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 可
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin) 		kě
Middle
Chinese 		‹ khaX ›
Old
Chinese 		/*[k]ʰˁa[j]ʔ/
English may; acceptable

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 可
Reading # 1/1
No. 7446
Phonetic
component 		可
Rime
group 		歌
Rime
subdivision 		1
Corresponding
MC rime 		可
Old
Chinese 		/*kʰaːlʔ/

Definitions

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可

  1. can; may; be able to
    可溶  ―  kěróng  ―  soluble
    可大可小  ―  kě dà kě xiǎo  ―  can be serious or minor
    這袋子可盛五十公斤。 [MSC, trad.]
    这袋子可盛五十公斤。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhè dàizi kě chéng wǔshí gōngjīn. [Pinyin]
    This bag can hold 50 kilos.
    他沒有家可住。／他没有家可住。  ―  Tā méiyǒu jiā kě zhù.  ―  He had no place to live.
  2. to approve; to permit
    許可／许可  ―  xǔkě  ―  to permit, to allow
    認可／认可  ―  rènkě  ―  to approve
  3. to fit; suit
    可心  ―  kěxīn  ―  satisfying
    可口  ―  kěkǒu  ―  tasty
  4. to be worth doing
    可愛／可爱  ―  kě'ài  ―  cute; adorable (literally, “worth loving”)
    可歌可泣  ―  kěgēkěqì  ―  epic; moving (literally, “worth praising and crying over”)
    四川可玩的地方太多了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Sìchuān kě wán de dìfang tài duō le. [Pinyin]
    There are too many places in Sichuan worth visiting.
  5. but; however
    Synonym: 可是 (kěshì)
  6. A particle.
    1. (archaic or dialectal or in greetings) Used to form a question.
      您一向可好？  ―  Nín yīxiàng kě hǎo?  ―  How have you been lately?
      你可知罪？  ―  Nǐ kě zhī zuì?  ―  Do you comprehend of you committing the crime?
    2. (archaic or dialectal) Used to form a rhetorical question.
    3. Used in declarative sentences for emphasis.
      我喜歡的運動可多了。 [MSC, trad.]
      我喜欢的运动可多了。 [MSC, simp.]
      Wǒ xǐhuan de yùndòng kě duō le. [Pinyin]
      There are many sports that I like.
      我可不太知道。  ―  Wǒ kě bù tài zhīdào.  ―  I don't really know.
    4. Used in exclamatory sentences for emphasis.
      這可不行啊！／这可不行啊！  ―  Zhè kě bùxíng a!  ―  But this won't do!
    5. Used in imperative sentences for emphasis.
  7. (literary) about; around
  8. (literary) to recover completely (from an illness)
Usage notes
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When Mandarin speakers wish to imitate the sound of the dialectal pronunciation of 可 in written form, the character 闊／阔 (kuò) is often used to substitute for 可.

闊以／阔以  ―  kuòyǐ  ―  imitates the sound of 可以 (kěyǐ) in dialectal Chinese
闊落／阔落  ―  kuòluò  ―  imitates the sound of 可樂／可乐 (kělè) in dialectal Chinese

Compounds

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Etymology 2

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Pronunciation

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Definitions

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可

  1. Only used in 可汗 (kèhán).

Etymology 3

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For pronunciation and definitions of 可 – see 嗬 (“(Cantonese) Sentence-final particle used in an interrogative seeking confirmation”).
(This character is a variant form of 嗬).

Japanese

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Kanji

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可

(Fifth grade kyōiku kanji)

  1. allow, permit
  2. can; be able to

Readings

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  • Go-on: か (ka, Jōyō)
  • Kan-on: か (ka, Jōyō)
  • On: こく (koku)
  • Kun: よい (yoi, 可い)、べし (beshi, 可し)、ばかり (bakari)

Compounds

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Compounds of 可
Common
Uncommon
Archaic / rare

Etymology

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Kanji in this term
可
か
Grade: 5
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 可 (MC khaX).

Noun

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可(か) • (ka) 

  1. C (academic letter grade); passable
  2. allowed
    再(さい)配(はい)布(ふ)が可(か)の画(が)像(ぞう)[1]
    saihaifu ga ka no gazō
    images whose redistribution is allowed
    持(も)ち込(こ)み可(か)
    mochikomi ka
    bringing in [something: notes to a test, etc.] allowed

Suffix

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可(か) • (-ka) 

  1. permitted, allowed, licensed
  2. -able; can be done

Korean

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Etymology 1

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Hanja

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可 (eumhun 옳을 가 (oreul ga))

  1. hanja form? of 가 (“possible; allowed”)

Etymology 2

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Hanja

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可 (eumhun 오랑캐 극 (orangkae geuk))

  1. hanja form? of 극 (“barbarian”)

Vietnamese

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Han character

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可: Hán Nôm readings: khả, khá, tài

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.
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