Dong Chinese dictionary

ā, a, ē

name prefix

Original meaning:

hillside

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

Components

阝 Meaning component

fù

hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

阝 hints at the original meaning of 阿, "hillside", which is no longer the most common meaning of 阿 in modern Mandarin.

可 Sound component

kě, kè

able to

阿 and 可 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.阿 /*qˤa[j]/, /*ʔˤa (< *qˤaj)/
可 /*[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ/

Evolution