咖 (kā) — used to write borrowed sounds: 咖啡 coffee, 咖哩 curry

entries → 咖

TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字

咖 character · TOCFL 1 (est.)

咖＝口＋加

ㄎㄚ · kā

noun — used to write borrowed sounds: 咖啡 coffee, 咖哩 curry

字源 FORM — what the parts do

口義a mouth — marks the char as a sound to say, not a thing

加聲jiā — gives the sound, bent to kāthe everyday word "to add"

I≠jiā → kā — the donor's j hardens to k, off the regular track

A mouth (口) flags this as pure sound, a syllable to pronounce. 加 jiā lends that sound, knocked sideways to kā. The word it spells, 咖啡, is coffee carried in from another language by ear alone.

意 · Meanings

(假借)咖啡— coffee — a borrowed sound常用

→咖哩、大咖— curry; a big shot — other borrowed uses

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension