kuka

From Proto-Finnic *ku, from Proto-Uralic *ku- ~ *ko-. The nominative and genitive singular forms, which would have otherwise been monosyllabic, have been extended with -ka (as with joka and mikä). Cognate with Estonian kumb (“which”), Erzya ко- (ko-) in Erzya кода (koda, “how”), Hungarian hol (“where”), Forest Enets hōke (“which one”), Nganasan kuninu (“where”), and Kamassian kāmǝ̑n (“if”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/, [ˈkukɑ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ukɑ
• Syllabification^(key): ku‧ka

kuka

1. (interrogative) who; (when followed by a modifier in elative case, -sta/-stä) which one (of + a noun referring to people).
2. (indefinite) whoever.
3. (relative) who, when the pronoun refers to the whole of the preceding sentence. [1]

   En tiedä, kuka sen teki.

   I don't know who did it.

   but:

   Tässä on mies, joka sen teki.

   This is the man who did it.

4. (relative, dialectal) who

• The singular forms are sometimes used colloquially instead of the actual plural forms. Ketä is particularly common for keitä. In some dialects ketä is used in place of kuka.
• The use of kuka as a relative pronoun is comparable to mikä; see it for more usage notes for when to use it and when to use joka.

In modern Finnish, forms based on the stem form ke- or kene- are the usual inflected forms of the interrogative personal pronoun. Inflected forms based on the stem ku- are now archaic and somewhat poetic, even though the nominative singular kuka is modern. Conversely, the alternative nominative form ken is now archaic or poetic.

Thus, Kuta sinä rakastat?, while standard, would to a modern speaker appear roughly as archaic as "Whom dost thou love?"

The illative, adessive, ablative and allative singular cases have alternative forms of equal value; both forms are commonly used. Thus, keneen, kenellä, keneltä, kenelle can equally be expressed as kehen, kellä, keltä, kelle.

Following the pattern of other personal pronouns, the accusative form is kenet (compare minut, sinut, etc.).

Some cases of kuka/ken are hardly used at all. The inflection table below shows the archaic or otherwise disappeared/disappearing forms in brackets.

The instructive plural kuin with the stem -ka*, the instructive singular kun* and the causative singular kuten* (also as the dated, archaic form: kutenka*) are used as adverbs with completely different meanings from “who”.

Note: In the inflection table below, poetic and/or archaic forms are shown in brackets and modern usage without brackets. See also the declension of the negative form ei kukaan.

• (who): ken ( the nominative singular is archaic, see "Inflection" section above)
• (whoever): kuka tahansa, ken

• Kukapa tietää?

• Sergei Starostin, Uralic etymology

• akku

• IPA^(key): [ˈkukɒ]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ku‧ka
• Rhymes: -kɒ

Uncertain; perhaps an Italian loan word, compare Northern Italian cuco (“goofy”).

kuka

1. dumb (as a fish), tongue-tied (not saying a word)

Via Czech, from German KUKA, short for Keller und Knappich Augsburg, a German firm which manufactured and supplied orange refuse collection vehicles. Today the company KUKA produces industrial robots and automation technologies.

kuka (plural kukák)

1. garbage can, trash can, refuse bin (especially an outdoor container)

   Coordinate terms: szemetes, szemetesvödör, szemétkosár, szemetesláda, szemétláda

• (dumb): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (garbage can): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (wooden hook used for drying tobacco): kuka in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

From Proto-Finnic *kuka, from Proto-Uralic *ku-. Cognates with Finnish kuka (“who”).

The inflected forms derive from Proto-Finnic *ku.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/, [ˈkukɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkukɑ/, [ˈkuɡ̊ɑ]
• Rhymes: -ukɑ
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

kuka

1. which? (of many)

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 212

• IPA^(key): [ˈkʊkɐ]

kuka

1. edible animal
2. meat

• kukaku ananyi (“to hunt”)
• kukaputju (“hunter”)
• kukanypa (“marked man, target”)

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ka/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uka
• Syllabification: ku‧ka

kuka

1. third-person singular present of kukać

kuka

1. coca

From Proto-Slavic *kuka (“hook, hook-shaped”).

• IPA^(key): /kûka/
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

kȕka f (Cyrillic spelling ку̏ка)

1. hook

kuka (Cyrillic spelling кука)

1. genitive singular of kuk

• “kuka” in Hrvatski jezični portal

kuka (present kukar, preterite kukade, supine kukat, imperative kuka)

1. Only used in kuka ur

kuka

1. crab

Borrowed from English cook.

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ka/
• Hyphenation: ku‧ka

kuka

1. cook, chef
2. cooked food

kuka

1. (transitive) to cook

• R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary‎, Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 168

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

kuka

1. comb

• Beaty de Farris, Kathryn; et al. (2012) Diccionario básico del mixteco de Yosondúa, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 46)‎ (in Spanish), third edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 40