کو

See also: گو‎, كو‎, -کو‎, کو-‎, Appendix:Variations of "ko", and Appendix:Variations of "ku"

Alviri-Vidari

Adverb

کو (ko)

(interrogative) where

Related terms

کده‎ (kode)

Deccani

Etymology

Ultimately from a derivative of Sanskrit कृ (kṛ, “to do”). Compare Hindi को (ko) / Urdu کو‎ (ko), Braj कौ (kau).

Postposition

کو (kū)

marks the dative case: to
‏میرے کو‎‎ ― mere kū ― to me

Malay

Pronoun

کو

Jawi spelling of ku

Persian

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian): IPA^(key): /kuː/

(Dari): IPA^(key): /kuː/

(Iranian Persian): IPA^(key): /kuː/
(Tajik): IPA^(key): /ku/

Adverb

کو • (ku)

(colloquial or poetic) where is...
Synonym: کجاست‎ (kojâ-st)
‏‎‎ ― medâd-et ku? ― Where is your pencil?
‏‎‎ (colloquial) ― mard-e ku? ― Where is the man?
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, Reynold A. Nicholson, transl., مثنوی معنوی‎ [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume III, verse 1174:
  ‏بعد از آن گفتند ای مادر بیا/ گور بابا کو تو ما را ره نما‎‎
  ba'd az ân goftand ey mâdar biy-â / gur-e bâbâ ku to mâ râ rah namâ
  Afterwards they said, "Come, O mother, where is our father's grave? Do thou show us the way."
- late 1300s, Xāja Shams-ud-Dīn Moḥammad Ḥāfeẓ-e Shīrāzī, “Ghazal 470 (Sīne mālāmāl-e dard ast)”, in دیوان حافظ‎ [Divān of Ḥāfeẓ]:
  ‏سوختم در چاه صبر از بهر آن شمع چگل‎
  ‎شاه ترکان فارغ است از حال ما کو رستمی‎‎‎
  suxtam dar čâh-e sabr az bahr-e ân šam'-e čegel
  šâh-e torkân fâreğ ast az hâl-e mâ ku rostami
  I burnt in the well of patience on account of that candle of Chigil;
  The king of the Turks cares not for my condition, where is a Rostam?
(archaic) where
- (Can we date this quote?), Hakim Nizāmi Ganjavi, “baxš 28 (nešastan-e Bahrām ruz-e došanbe dar gonbad sabz o afsāne goftan doxtar-e pādšāh-e eqlim sevom)”, in هفت پیکر‎ [Haft Peykar]:
  ‏کو شد آن دعوی دوازده فن
  ‎و آن همه مردی این نه مرد و نه زن‎‎
  ku šod ān davi davāzdah fan
  vānhame mardi in na mard o na zan
  ;

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian): IPA^(key): /koː/

(Dari): IPA^(key): /koː/

(Iranian Persian): IPA^(key): /kuː/
(Tajik): IPA^(key): /kɵː/

Noun

کو • (ku)

Alternative form of ‎ (kuy, “street; city block”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian): IPA^(key): /koː/

(Dari): IPA^(key): /koː/

(Iranian Persian): IPA^(key): /kuː/
(Tajik): IPA^(key): /kɵː/

Contraction

کو • (ku)

Contraction of ‎ (ke u, “that he/she...; which...”).
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, Reynold A. Nicholson, transl., مثنوی معنوی‎ [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume III, verse 4:
  ‏این چراغ شمس کو روشن بود/ نه از فتیل و پنبه و روغن بود‎‎
  in čerâğ šams ku rowšan bud / na az fatil o panbe o rowğan bud
  This lamp, the sun, which is bright—it is not by means of wick and cotton and oil.

Urdu

Etymology

Inherited from Old Hindi काहू (kāhū), काहु (kāhu), from Sauraseni Prakrit [Term?], from Sanskrit कक्षे (kákṣe, “in the armpit”), locative singular of कक्ष (kákṣa, “armpit”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *káṭṣas, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *káćšas, from Proto-Indo-European *kóḱsos (“joint”).[1] Compare Deccani کو‎ (kū), Braj कौ (kau), Assamese -ক (-k).

The semantic development of the terms was in the armpit > at the side > towards > to. Deccani (and other Southern dialects of Hindustani) had a parallel development which also includes a locative sense.

Pronunciation

(Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /koː/

Postposition

کو • (ko) (Hindi spelling को)

marks the dative case: to
‏میرے بھائی کو پانی دیں۔‎‎ ― mere bhāī ko pānī dẽ. ― Please give some water to my elder brother.
‏لاہور کو‎ ― lāhaur ko ― to Lahore
‏اوپر کو‎ ― ūpar ko ― upwards
in, at the time of
‏میں شام کو گھر لوٹوں گا۔‎‎ ― ma͠i śām ko ghar lauṭū̃ gā. ― I will return home in the evening.

Usage notes

کو‎ (ko) marks the dative. It can be used as a postfix similar to -wards (e.g. اوپر کو (ūpar ko, “upwards”); آگے کو (āge ko, “afterwards”)).

It is suffixed to oblique forms of pronouns as well, e.g. the dative of میں‎ (ma͠i, “I”) is مجھ کو (mujh ko).

References

Reinöhl, Uta (2016), “The diverse origins of the Hindi simple postpositions”, in Grammaticalization and the Rise of Configurationality in Indo-Aryan, →ISBN

McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993), “को”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
Platts, John T. (1884), “کو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “ká”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press

[1] Reinöhl, Uta (2016), “The diverse origins of the Hindi simple postpositions”, in Grammaticalization and the Rise of Configurationality in Indo-Aryan, →ISBN