しか

See also: しが, じか, and じが

Japanese

Etymology 1

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ɕiká], [ɕ̩ká]
  • IPA(key): [ɕika̠]
  • Audio(file)

Particle

しか (rōmaji shika)

  1. nothing but, only (with negative verb)
    頑 (がん)張 (ば)るしかない。
    Ganbaru shika nai.
    All we can do is keep on trying our best.
    (literally, “There is nothing but trying our best.”)
    クオリティが高 (たか)すぎて本物 (ほんもの)にしか見 (み)えない。
    Kuoriti ga takasugite honmono ni shika mienai.
    The quality is so high that it looks just like the real thing.
    (literally, “The quality is so high that I can't see it as anything except the real thing.”)
    曖昧 (あいまい)にしか語 (かた)らなかった
    aimai ni shika kataranakatta
    only spoke vaguely
    (literally, “did not speak except vaguely”)
Usage notes
  • しか (shika) is always used with a negative verb; as such, another interpretation could be "except for".

Etymology 2
For pronunciation and definitions of しか – see the following entry at 爾.
しか【爾】
[adverb](obsolete) like that, as such
[adverb](obsolete) certainly, definitely
[interjection](obsolete, conversational) yeah, uh-huh
(This term, しか, is a hiragana spelling of 爾.)

Etymology 3
For pronunciation and definitions of しか – see the following entry at 鹿.
しか【鹿】
[noun]deer
(This term, しか, is a hiragana spelling of 鹿.)

Etymology 4
For pronunciation and definitions of しか – see the following entries.
【史家】
[noun]historian
【歯科】
[noun]dentistry
[noun](by extension) a dentist's office
(This term, しか, is the hiragana spelling of several Sino-Japanese terms.)
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