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The ヶ in e.g. 一ヶ月 is a bit of an odd character - it looks a lot like a small
version of the katakana ケ, but is it derived from that katakana originally? Or
is it a normal kanji? Or is it something else entirely?
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2011-06-01T19:47:47.193
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kanji history etymology kana abbreviations
What are the origins of ヶ?
From [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_ke):

> It is an abbreviation for the kanji 箇, which is used as a counter word.
> Although it resembles the katakana character ke (ケ), it is pronounced ka, ga
> or ko, not ke.
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2011-06-01T19:49:52.010
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Actually, it's a simplified version of any of the following: 箇・個・个
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2011-06-01T20:28:14.377
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It has two main usages:

  * As an abbreviation of the counter word 個/箇. 
    * More often it has a further word after it and it's read か. In this case it's sometimes written as ヵ or even か so the reading is more obvious. Examples: 一ヶ月（いっかげつ） 二ヶ国語 三ヶ所
    * Sometimes it's used alone just like 個 is (and it's read こ too), perhaps as shorthand. I've rarely seen people do this, but then again I rarely see handwritten text, where shorthand would be handy. Example: １ヶ（いっこ）
  * As something that roughly corresponds to the modern particle の in place names. In this case it's usually read が (especially in old Japanese the particle が has a close resemblance to the modern の). Examples: 西ヶ原（にしがはら） 鳩ヶ谷市

Place names will have some exceptions, as always, but I think these rules
cover by far most cases.
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It results from one of the components in 竹 , which is in turn taken from the
radical sitting on the top of 箇 (a generic counter for pieces).
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2011-07-27T23:56:29.360
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