■ radical

ā

an initial particle

How it’s built

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 可 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "big mountain". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

阝

meaning

mound; abundant — 阝 is a component form of 阜.

可

sound

be willing; allow — The pronunciation of 阿 was similar to 可 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

Appears in

Characters that use 阿 as a component, most common first.

啊aah 锕āactinium 錒āactinium

Browse all characters →