-kah

From Malay -kah.

• IPA^(key): [kah]
• Hyphenation: kah

-kah

1. added to modal verbs and adverbs in questions

   Bisakah saya tidur? ― Can I go to sleep?

2. added to interrogative words for emphasis

• “-kah” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• (informal) ke
• (dialectal) ka, ke

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Compare with -lah”). see also Kapampangan ka.

• IPA^(key): /kah/
• Rhymes: -ah

-kah (Jawi spelling -که)

1. Used on modal verbs and adverbs in questions.

   Adakah awak lapar?

   Are you hungry?

   • 1371 CE [c. 1296–1316 CE], Kadi Hasan, Hikayat Bayan Budiman (fiction), translation of Tutinama by Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi (in Persian); transcribed from Jawi script into the Latin alphabet Ekawati Ekawati, Doni Setiyawan, editors, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2016, →ISBN:

     Akan tetapi, bukankah aku sudah melepaskanmu dan menyuruhmu terbang bebas?

     Nevertheless, have I not already released you and told you to fly free?

   • 1371 CE [c. 1296–1316 CE], Kadi Hasan, Hikayat Bayan Budiman (fiction), translation of Tutinama by Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi (in Persian); transcribed from Jawi script into the Latin alphabet Ekawati Ekawati, Doni Setiyawan, editors, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2016, →ISBN:

     Maukah tuan berdua mendengarkan cerita hamba ini?

     Would both masters want to hear the story of this servant?

   • 2018 March 17, “Waspada agar tidak mudah terpedaya [Be careful so as not to be easily deceived]”, in Media Permata‎^[1], archived from the original on 29 October 2018:

     Pernahkah anda bermasalah dengan orang yang memiliki wajah baik sedang sebenarnya menyimpan agenda buruk terhadap diri anda?

     Have you ever had problems with someone who has a good face but actually holds a bad agenda against you?

2. Used on interrogative words to indicate emphasis.

   Berapa ramaikah orang dalam keluarga awak?

   How many people are there in your family?

   Dari manakah awak datang?

   Where do you come from?

   • 1371 CE [c. 1296–1316 CE], Kadi Hasan, Hikayat Bayan Budiman (fiction), translation of Tutinama by Ziya' al-Din Nakhshabi (in Persian); transcribed from Jawi script into the Latin alphabet Ekawati Ekawati, Doni Setiyawan, editors, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2016, →ISBN:

     Lalu siapakah mengucapkan salam kepadaku?

     Then who has wished peace to me?

3. Used to indicate uncertainty in a statement.
   • 2018 March 17, “Waspada agar tidak mudah terpedaya [Be careful so as not to be easily deceived]”, in Media Permata‎^[2], archived from the original on 29 October 2018:

     Benarkah persepsi-persepsi ini? Betulkah wajah seseorang itu melambangkan siapa dia? Bolehkah kita meramal peribadi seseorang itu berdasarkan apa yang kita lihat sahaja?

     Are these perceptions real? Is it true that a person's face can represent who he/she is? Can we predict a person's personality based on what we see only?

• This suffix is usually only used in formal or literary speech or writing.
• With question words such as apa (“what”) and siapa (“who”):
  • It is only used when the word is the subject of the sentence, so while it would be used in a sentence like this:

    Apakah nama kereta itu?

    What is the name of that car?

  • It wouldn't be used in a sentence like this where apa is the object of the sentence:

    Nama kereta itu apa?

    What is the name of that car? (lit. "The name of that car is what?")

• With non-question words:
  • It is only used when the word is at the start of a sentence, such as so:

    Betulkah jawapan ini?

    Is this answer correct?

  • But when it is located at the end of a sentence, it is either used alongside adakah/apakah as so:

    Adakah/Apakah jawapan ini betul?

    Is this answer correct?

  • Or not used alongside those two question words where it would carry a meaning of shock or surprise:

    Jawapan ini betul?!

    This answer is correct?!

• Indonesian: -kah

-kah

1. Verbal stem occurring in the following root, aspect, and mode combinations:

Aspect	IMP	PERF	FUT	ITER	OPT
MOM			-KÁÁʼ (track) -KAI (go)	-KÁÁʼ (track) -KAI (go)
CON			-KÁÁʼ (track) -KAI (go)	-KÁÁʼ (track) -KAI (go)
DIV			-KAI (go)	-KAI (go)
PROG			-KAI (go)	-KAI (go)	-KAI (go)