訶
scold
Readings
On'yomi
- カ
Kun'yomi
- しか.る
- せ.める
Meaning
訶 centers on verbal reprimand: scolding or rebuking someone with words.
Most common words using 訶
- 摩訶不思議まかふしぎ
profound mystery
- 摩訶まか
greatness; enormity; superiority; maha
- 摩訶大大将棋まかだいだいしょうぎ
maka dai dai shogi (large 19x19 board shogi variant)
- 摩訶婆羅多マハーバーラタ
Mahabharata (Sanskrit Hindu epic, circa 400 CE)
- 摩訶止観まかしかん
Mohe Zhiguan (Buddhist text by Guanding, 594 CE)
- 摩訶毘盧遮那まかびるしゃな
Mahavairocana (Buddha who symbolizes the entirety of the phenomenological world)
- 薩婆訶そわか
svāhā; well said; so be it
Study
Etymology
訶 combines 言 (speech) with 可, which likely contributes the sound and may relate to the idea of verbal action. The exact historical development is uncertain.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 言 means words, and the right side 可 looks like a mouth 口 with a hook 亅. Imagine words coming from a mouth that scold someone sharply.
Reading mnemonic
For カ, picture a car horn honking as someone scolds a driver: car -> カ, and the honk is like a verbal scolding.