←
qˀ (qā, kā) adv. aspectual particle
aspectual modifier with the participle indicating progressive real activity
Syr, JBA, JBAg, Man, LJLA
BhGr 205:8 text not cited ; BT Ber 5b(28)↗ אמאי קא בכית‏ : why are you crying? ; BT Šab 73a(12)↗ הא לא כא מיכוין‏ ; BT Meg 15a(23)↗ והא אנא קא אמינא כמה זמני רחב רחב ולא איכפת לי‏ : did I not, in fact, say several times: "Rahab! Rahab!," and I did not care? ; SSSad 201:13↗ והשתא קא מודינא ^קדמיכון^ ^דאשת^למית וקבילית מינ^יה‏ : now I hereby admit before you that I have been paid off and received from him ; SidraDNishmata col.140:12↗ lman ḏlaqazara zira : for one who is not sowing seed ; TgEsth2 4:16(2)↗ ויפוק חתנא מבי משכביה קא אסיר <<שקא>>‏ : the groom will leave his bedroom bound in sackcloth
§▶
rarely and/or dialectal the more colloquial kā (so only in Syr[Eastern]) as in many NENA dialects
🔍▶
✎▶
For the most recent study of usage see Y. Breuer, תפקיד המילית ”קא” בארמית הבבלית, Leš 60/1-2(1997)73ff.
Neither many modern scholars nor ancient non-Babylonian writers/scribes necessarily understood the function of this particle; note the cited heavily Babylonianizing LJLA passage where it has been used as a literary flourish to parallel כד.
Page refs. in other dictionaries: LS2: 592[314]DJBA: 976aJastrow: 1306Drower/Macuch: 398a, 410bLevy Ch-W: 2:338

© The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon ©
Fri, 06 Nov 2026 05:54:14 -0500