کجا
Persian
Etymology
From Middle Persian [script needed] (AYK gywʾk' /kū gyāg/). By surface analysis, کو (ku/ko, “where”) + جا (jā, “place”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Persian) IPA(key): /ku.ˈd͡ʒaː/
- (Dari, formal) IPA(key): [kʰʊ.d͡ʒɑ́ː]
- (Iran, formal) IPA(key): [kʰo.d͡ʒɒ́ː]
- (Tajik, formal) IPA(key): [kʰu.d͡ʒɔ́]
| Readings | |
|---|---|
| Classical reading? | kujā |
| Dari reading? | kujā |
| Iranian reading? | kojâ |
| Tajik reading? | kujo |
Adverb
| Dari | کجا |
|---|---|
| Iranian Persian | |
| Tajik | куҷо |
کُجا • (kojâ)
- (interrogative) where
- Synonym: گجا (gijo)
- کجایم؟ میترسم... ― kojâ-yam? mi-tarsam... ― Where am I? I'm afraid...
- کتاب تو کجاست؟ ― ketâb-e to kojâ-st? ― Where is your book?
- کجا میری؟ (colloquial) ― kojâ mi-ri? ― Where are you going?
- (interrogative) how; when; under what conditions
- c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 1”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ][1]:
- شب تاریک و بیم موج و گردابی چنین هایل
کجا دانند حال ما سبکباران ساحلها- šab-i tārīk u bīm-i mawj u girdābē čunīn hāyil
kujā dānand hāl-i mā sabukbārān-i sāhil-hā - The dark night, the fear of waves, so terrifying a whirlpool!
How can the lightly burdened on the coast know our condition?
- šab-i tārīk u bīm-i mawj u girdābē čunīn hāyil
Inflection
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person (“I am, we are”) |
کجایم، کجام△ (kojâyam, kojâm△) | کجاییم (kojâyim) |
| 2nd person (“you are”) |
کجایی (kojâyi) | کجایید، کجایین△ (kojâyid, kojâyin△) |
| 3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”) |
کجاست، کجاس، کجائه△ (kojâst, kojâs, kojâe△) | کجایند، کجان△ (kojâyand, kojân△) |
△ Colloquial.
Conjunction
کُجا • (kojâ)
- (obsolete) because [up to 12th century]
- c. 1030, Fakhr al-Dīn Asʿad Gurgānī, ويس و رامين [Vīs u Rāmīn][2]:
- کجا یزدان امیدم را وفا کرد
بدین پیوند کامم را روا کرد- kujā yazdān umēd-am rā wafā kard
bad-ĕn paywand kām-am rā rawā kard - Because God was loyal to my hope,
He permitted my desire through this bond.
- kujā yazdān umēd-am rā wafā kard