کا

کا (ka)

1. straw

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit किअउं (kiaüṃ), from Sanskrit कृतं (kṛtaṃ) (perfect participle neuter of कृ (kṛ, “to do”)). Dasa also suggests क (ka, diminutive suffix). Compare Hindi का (kā) and Punjabi دا (dā).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kɑː/

کا • (kā) (Hindi spelling का)

1. marks the genitive case: of, belonging to

   فیض کا بھائی ― faiz kā bhā'ī ― Faiz's brother

   اُس کا دوست ― us kā dōst ― his friend

   عائشہ کی گھڑی ― Aisha kī ghaṛī ― Ayesha's watch

2. part of, from

   مالٹے کا رس ― mālṭe kā ras ― orange juice (literally, “juice from orange”)

   ہاتھ کی اُنگلی ― hāth kī unglī ― finger of the hand.

3. made of, consisting of

   لوہے کی تلوار ― lōhē kī talvār ― an iron sword

4. worth, useful

   کیا یہ کوئی کہنے کی بات ہے؟

   kyā yeh kō'ī kehnē kī bāt hai?

   Is this something that is worth saying?

5. (in the oblique) forms compound postpositions

   کے دوران ― ke dorān ― during

   کی طَرَف ― kī taraf ― facing

• کا (kā) is a possessive particle in Urdu to show relationships with people and things, and in many cases it can be translated as an apostrophe s as possession would be used in English. It is not used to show possession by people of objects, and, as such, is also frequently used as an adjective termination, e.g.:
  • سونے کی گھَڑی ― sone kī ghaṛī ― a gold watch
  • کاٹھ کا گھوڑا ― kāṭh kā ghoṛā ― a wooden horse
• In the case of the pronouns of the first and second persons, کا (kā) takes the form را (rā): میرا (merā), تیرا (terā), ہَمارا (hamārā), تُمْہارا (tumhārā).
• The masculine oblique کے (ke) and feminine oblique کی (kī) form a large number of compound postpositions such as کے ساتھ (ke sāth, “with”), کے پِیچھے (ke pīche, “behind”), کی طَرْح (kī tarh, “like”) etc.

• McGregor, R.S, ed. The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, Oxford university press. 1993
• Platts, John T. A dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English Oxford. 1884.