ke

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ke"

Languages (39)

Basque • Borôro • Chuukese • Czech • Esperanto • Finnish • Guaraní • Haitian Creole • Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai • Hawaiian • Hokkien • Ido • Indonesian • Italian • Japanese • Kholosi • Kongo • Ladino • Lautu Chin • Malay • Mandarin • Mapudungun • Mbyá Guaraní • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old French • Pali • Papiamentu • Romani • Swahili • Tagalog • Tocharian A • Tocharian B • Tooro • Turkish • Vietnamese • Xerénte • Ye'kwana • Yoruba • Zulu

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Page categories

Basque

Etymology

Unknown, virtually the only native word with initial /k/. The dialectal form eke is probably more conservative, which would point to Proto-Basque *eke(e).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/ [ke]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -e
• Hyphenation: ke

Noun

ke inan

1. smoke

Declension

Declension of ke (inanimate, ending in vowel)

	indefinite	singular	plural
absolutive	ke	kea	keak
ergative	kek	keak	keek
dative	keri	keari	keei
genitive	keren	kearen	keen
comitative	kerekin	kearekin	keekin
causative	kerengatik	kearengatik	keengatik
benefactive	kerentzat	kearentzat	keentzat
instrumental	kez	keaz	keez
inessive	ketan	kean	keetan
locative	ketako	keko	keetako
allative	ketara	kera	keetara
terminative	ketaraino	keraino	keetaraino
directive	ketarantz	kerantz	keetarantz
destinative	ketarako	kerako	keetarako
ablative	ketatik	ketik	keetatik
partitive	kerik	—	—
prolative	ketzat	—	—

Derived terms

• ke-adar
• ke-laino (“smog”)
• kealdi
• kebide (“chimney”)
• kedar
• kedartsu
• kedartu
• ketan (“smoked”)
• ketsu (“smoky”)
• ketu (“to fill with smoke”)
• keztatu (“to fill with smoke”)

 

Further reading

• “ke”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy], Euskaltzaindia
• “ke”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Borôro

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰee̥/

Noun

ke

1. food
2. bat

Chuukese

Pronoun

ke

1. you (singular)

Adjective

ke

1. you are

Synonyms

• ka

Related terms

		Present and past tense	Negative tense	Future	Negative future	Distant future	Negative determinate
Singular	First person	ua	use	upwe	usap	upwap	ute
	Second person	ka, ke	kose, kese	kopwe, kepwe	kosap, kesap	kopwap, kepwap	kote, kete
	Third person	a	ese	epwe	esap	epwap	ete
Plural	First person	aua (exclusive) sia (inclusive)	ause (exclusive) sise (inclusive)	aupwe (exclusive) sipwe (inclusive)	ausap (exclusive) sisap (inclusive)	aupwap (exclusive) sipwap (inclusive)	aute (exclusive) site (inclusive)
	Second person	oua	ouse	oupwe	ousap	oupwap	oute
	Third person	ra, re	rese	repwe	resap	repwap	rete

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkɛ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Preposition

ke

1. to
2. toward, towards

Synonyms

• k
• ku

Further reading

• “ke”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ke”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Esperanto

Etymology

From French, Portuguese, Spanish que (“that”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ke]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ke

Conjunction

ke

1. that

Finnish

Noun

ke

1. Abbreviation of keskiviikko.

Anagrams

• EK

Guaraní

Noun

ke

1. dream

Verb

ke

1. to sleep

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ke

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
active
	indicative	che aike	nde reike	ha'e oike	ñande jaike	ore roike	peẽ peike	ha'ekuéra oike/oike hikuái
	hortative	taike che	tereike nde	toike ha'e	tajaike ñande	taroike ore	tapeike peẽ	toike ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eike	-	-	-	peike	-
passive
	indicative	che ajeke	nde rejeke	ha'e ojeke	ñande jajeke	ore rojeke	peẽ pejeke	ha'ekuéra ojeke/ojeke hikuái
	hortative	tajeke che	terejeke nde	tojeke ha'e	tajajeke ñande	tarojeke ore	tapejeke peẽ	tojeke ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	ejeke	-	-	-	pejeke	-
reciprocal
	indicative	-	-	-	ñande jajoike	ore rojoike	peẽ pejoike	ha'ekuéra ojoike/ojoike hikuái
	hortative	-	-	-	tajajoike ñande	tarojoike ore	tapejoike peẽ	tojoike ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	-	-	-	-	pejoike	-
coactive
	indicative	che aimboke	nde reimboke	ha'e oimboke	ñande ñaimboke	ore roimboke	peẽ peimboke	ha'ekuéra oimboke/oimboke hikuái
	hortative	taimboke che	tereimboke nde	toimboke ha'e	tañaimboke ñande	taroimboke ore	tapeimboke peẽ	toimboke ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eimboke	-	-	-	peimboke	-
objective
	indicative	che airoke/aigueroke	nde reiroke/reigueroke	ha'e oiroke/oigueroke	ñande jairoke/jaigueroke	ore roiroke/roigueroke	peẽ peiroke/peigueroke	ha'ekuéra oiroke/oigueroke//oiroke/oigueroke hikuái
	hortative	tairoke/taigueroke che	tereiroke/tereigueroke nde	toiroke/toigueroke ha'e	tajairoke/tajaigueroke ñande	taroiroke/taroigueroke ore	tapeiroke/tapeigueroke peẽ	toiroke/toigueroke ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eiroke/eigueroke	-	-	-	peiroke/peigueroke	-
subsuntive¹
	indicative	che aiporoke/aimba'eke	nde reiporoke/reimba'eke	ha'e oiporoke/oimba'eke	ñande jaiporoke/ñaimba'eke	ore roiporoke/roimba'eke	peẽ peiporoke/peimba'eke	ha'ekuéra oiporoke/oimba'eke//oiporoke/oimba'eke hikuái
	hortative	taiporoke/taimba'eke che	tereiporoke/tereimba'eke nde	toiporoke/toimba'eke ha'e	tajaiporoke/tañaimba'eke ñande	taroiporoke/taroimba'eke ore	tapeiporoke/tapeimba'eke peẽ	toiporoke/toimba'eke ha'ekuéra/hikuái
	imperative	-	eiporoke/eimba'eke	-	-	-	peiporoke/peimba'eke	-
		¹: the subsuntive forms with -poro- are used with humans, while the forms with -mba'e- are used with animals.

Haitian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Etymology 1

From French que (“that”).

Pronoun

ke

1. (relative, object of relative clause) that

Usage notes

• This word is often omitted.

Etymology 2

From French queue (“tail”).

Noun

ke

1. tail

Etymology 3

From French que (“than”).

Preposition

ke

1. than

Alternative forms

• pase

Havasupai-Walapai-Yavapai

Particle

ke

1. (Yavapai) not, negation particle

References

• Corinna Handschuh, A typology of marked-S languages

Hawaiian

Alternative forms

• ka

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Article

ke (definite)

1. the

Usage notes

• Modifies words which begin with the letters 'k', 'a', 'e', and 'o'.

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of ke – see 街 (“street; market; fair; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 街).

For pronunciation and definitions of ke – see 加 (“to add; more”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 加).

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/, /kɛ/

Etymology 1

From Esperanto ke, from French que, Portuguese que, Spanish que, Italian che.

Conjunction

ke

1. that

   Me konocas ke tu volas helpar me.

   I know that you want to help me

Usage notes

The conjugation can also be used in combination with a preposition to make it a conjugation. See: pro ke, por ke, dum ke, depos ke, and til ke.

Etymology 2

From k +‎ -e.

Noun

ke (plural ke-i)

1. The name of the Latin script letter K/k.

See also

• (Latin script letter names) litero; a, be, ce, che, de, e, fe, ge, he, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, pe, que, re, se, she, te, u, ve, we, xe, ye, ze ^{(Category: io:Latin letter names)}

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay ke, from Old Malay ka. For the verb sense, due to the dropping of preceding verb pergi (“to go”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈkə], (colloquially, sometimes before words starting in consonants) [ˈk]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: kê

Preposition

kê

1. to

   Semalam aku pergi ke rumah teman.

   Last night I went to a friend’s home.

Verb

ke

1. (colloquial) to go

   Tadi malam aku ke rumah teman.

   Last night I went to a friend’s home.

See also

• dari

Italian

Etymology

Shorter, written form of che

Pronoun

ke

1. (informal, often in Internet chat or in SMS messages) who; which; what; that; than

Japanese

Romanization

ke

1. The hiragana syllable け (ke) or the katakana syllable ケ (ke) in Hepburn romanization.

Kholosi

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Postposition

ke

1. accusative case marker
2. dative case marker

   Yunos mānāske nāmo nevisay

   Yunes wrote a letter to his mother.

References

• Rezaei, Tahereh (2020) First notes on the syntax of Kholosi as a heritage language in the south of Iran‎^[1], Hormozgan Cultural Heritage, Handcrafts & Tourism Organization

Kongo

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *kéè.

Adjective

-ke

1. small , little

Ladino

Conjunction

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. that
2. indicating desire or permission (usually used with the subjunctive)

Pronoun

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. who; that
2. that; whom

Preposition

ke (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling קה)

1. than

Lautu Chin

Pronuncation

IPA^(key): [kēē]

Noun

ke

1. back (of body)

References

• Amanda Bohnert, Kelly Harper Berkson, Sui Hnem Par (2022) “Vowel Sounds in Hnaring Lutuv”, in Indiana Working Papers in South Asian Languages and Cultures‎^[2], volume 3, number 1

Malay

Etymology 1

Phonetic spelling of -kah in a Johor-Riau accent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkə/ [ˈkə]

Conjunction

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. (informal) or

   Synonym: atau

   Besar ke kecil?

   Big or small?

   Boleh ke tak?

   Can you do it (or not)?

Suffix

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. (informal) used on modal verbs, adverbs, verbs and nouns to form questions

   Boleh ke aku pinjam fon kau?

   Can I borrow your phone?

   Selalu ke cikgu tanya soalan macam tu?

   Is it often that the teacher ask questions like that?

   Abang kau dah beli ke PS5 yang dia kata nak beli tu?

   Has your brother bought the PS5 that he said he was going to buy?

   Kau ke yang dapat markah 100% dekat ujian baru-baru ni tu?

   Are you the one that got a score of a 100% for the recent test?

Usage notes

Note that unlike -kah, ke isn't written conjoined with a preceding word.

Etymology 2

From Old Malay ka, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ka.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkə/ [ˈkə]

Preposition

ke (Jawi spelling ک)

1. to

   Antonym: dari

   Semalam aku pergi ke rumah kawan.

   Yesterday I went to a friend’s house.

Derived terms

• kepada

Descendants

• Indonesian: ke

Etymology 3

From English kay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/ [ke]

Noun

ké (plural ke-ke)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.

Synonyms

• kaf (Jawi letter name)
• ke (Indonesian)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; e, bi, si, di, i, ef, ji, hec, ai, je, ke, el, em, en, o, pi, kiu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dabel yu, eks, way, zed

Mandarin

Romanization

ke

1. Nonstandard spelling of kē.
2. Nonstandard spelling of ké.
3. Nonstandard spelling of kě.
4. Nonstandard spelling of kè.
5. Nonstandard spelling of kê̄.

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Mapudungun

Noun

ke (Raguileo spelling)

1. liver

References

• Wixaleyiñ: Mapucezugun-wigkazugun pici hemvlcijka (Wixaleyiñ: Small Mapudungun-Spanish dictionary), Beretta, Marta; Cañumil, Dario; Cañumil, Tulio, 2008.

Mbyá Guaraní

Verb

ke

1. to sleep

Conjugation

    Conjugation of ke

singular			plural
1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person inclusive	1st person exclusive	2nd person	3rd person
xee ake	ndee ereke	ha'e oke	nhande jake	ore oroke	peẽ peke	ha'e oke

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛː/

Pronoun

ke

1. (dialectal, Eastern Norway) alternative form of kva (“what”)

Old French

Pronoun

ke

1. Alternative form of que

Conjunction

ke

1. Alternative form of que

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀓𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• के (Devanagari script)
• কে (Bengali script)
• කෙ (Sinhalese script)
• ကေ or ၵေ (Burmese script)
• เก (Thai script)
• ᨠᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ເກ (Lao script)
• កេ (Khmer script)
• 𑄇𑄬 (Chakma script)

Pronoun

ke

1. masculine nominative/accusative plural of ka

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Portuguese querer and Spanish querer and Kabuverdianu kré.

Verb

ke

1. to want, to wish
2. to love, to like

Romani

Conjunction

ke

1. because

Swahili

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Adjective

-ke (declinable)

1. female

Declension

Inflected forms of -ke

Noun class	singular	plural
m-wa class(I/II)	mke	wake
m-mi class(III/IV)	mke	mike
ji-ma class(V/VI)	ke	make
ki-vi class(VII/VIII)	kike	vike
n class(IX/X)	ke	ke
u class(XI)	mke	see n(X) or ma(VI) class
pa class(XVI)	pake
ku class(XVII)	kuke
mu class(XVIII)	muke

Coordinate terms

• -ume

Derived terms

• mke

Tagalog

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish que.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈke/ [ˈkɛ]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: ke

Conjunction

ke (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒ) (colloquial)

1. even if; whether

   Synonyms: kahit, man, kahiman

   ke ganto ― even if this is like this

Related terms

• ike
• kesyo
• porke

 

Etymology 2

Possibly from Mandarin 葛 (gé).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈkeʔ/ [ˈkɛʔ]
• Rhymes: -eʔ
• Syllabification: ke

Noun

kê (Baybayin spelling ᜃᜒ) (botany)

1. kudzu (Pueraria montans var. lobata)

Further reading

• “ke”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Tocharian A

Etymology

Compare Tocharian B kaiyye.

Noun

ke

1. chance, opportunity

Tocharian B

Etymology

Possibly related to the intensifying suffix -k(ä).

Particle

ke

1. intensifying particle

Further reading

• Adams, Douglas Q. (2013) “ke”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 201

Tooro

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *kéè.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ke/

Adjective

-ke (declinable)

1. small, little

   Synonym: -taito

   Antonym: -kooto

Usage notes

When used in the plural, -ke can mean 'few' or 'small number of', in addition to 'small'. Thus, emiti mike can mean 'small trees' or 'a few trees'.

Declension

Inflected forms of -ke

Noun class	indefinite		definite
	singular	plural	singular	plural
1/2	muke	bake	omuke	abake
3/4	muke	mike	omuke	emike
5/6	like	make	erike	amake
7/8	kike	bike	ekike	ebike
9/10	nke	nke	enke	enke
11/10	ruke		oruke
12/14	kake	buke	akake	obuke
13		tuke		otuke
14/6	buke	make	obuke	amake
15/6	kuke		okuke
16	hake		ahake

Related terms

• -keeha (“to grow small; to contract”)

References

• Entry 7984 at Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3
• Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[3], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 358

Turkish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ce/, /ka/

Noun

ke

1. The name of the Latin-script letter K/k.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) harf; a, be, ce, çe, de, e, fe, ge, yumuşak ge, he, ı, i, je, ke, le, me, ne, o, ö, pe, re, se, şe, te, u, ü, ve, ye, ze

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [kɛ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [kɛ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [kɛ˧˧]

Noun

ke • (鷄)

1. saliva/drool that flows out when sleeping

   Mồm dính ke kìa.

   You have spit around your mouth.

Xerénte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʰe/

Noun

ke

1. honey

References

• Rinaldo de Mattos, Fonêmica Xerente

Ye'kwana

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ke]

Particle

ke

1. quotative particle

References

• Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “ke”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[4], Lyon

Yoruba

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ké/

Verb

ké

1. to cry; to shout; to scream

   Mo ké sí ọ ― I cry out to you

Derived terms

• akéwì (“oral poet”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ké/

Verb

ké

1. to cut

   Synonym: gé

Derived terms

• àáké (“axe”)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kè/

Particle

kè

1. (Yagba) Alternative form of kò

   Ìghọn ọlọ́ṣà kè gbe arù rẹ̀ rè ― The thieves did not steal his luggage

Zulu

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɠe/^?

Verb

-ke^?

1. (auxiliary) sometimes, occasionally [with subjunctive]

   Ake akhale.

   Sometimes he cries.

2. (auxiliary) ever [with past subjunctive clause]

   Wake wabona ibhubesi?

   Have you ever seen a lion?

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɠé/

Conjunction

ke

1. (that one) dare to, let; indicates threatening [with subjunctive]

   Ke azame-nje!

   Just let him try!

References

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ke”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ke”
• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “ke”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “ke (3)”