kena

See also: Appendix:Variations of "kena"

English

Etymology 1

Noun

kena (plural kenas)

1. Alternative form of quena (“traditional flute of the Andes”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Malay kena (“to be struck, hit, affected by”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /ˈkənɑ/, /ˈkɑnɑ/, [ˈk˭ə˧.nä˦]
• (Malaysia) IPA^(key): /ˈkənə/, /ˈkənɑ/

Verb

kena (invariable)

(Manglish, Singlish)

1. (ambitransitive) To experience, receive, suffer, get or be affected by (something negative).

   Synonyms: (transitive) got, (intransitive) get it

   They all kena food poisoning.

   If they ever catch you jaywalking, you will kena.

2. (auxiliary) Used before a verb to indicate the adversative passive voice.

   Synonym: got

   He kena fine $10.

   My job application kena rejected.

Derived terms

• kena sai

See also

• tio (Singlish, not exclusively negative in connotation)

Anagrams

• Kane, Kean, aken, enka, kaen, nake

Estonian

Adjective

kena (genitive kena, partitive kena, comparative kenam, superlative kõige kenam)

1. nice, kind
2. pretty

Declension

Declension of kena (ÕS type 17i/pesa, no gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		kena	kenad
accusative	nom.
	gen.	kena
genitive			kenade
partitive		kena	keni kenasid
illative		kenna kenasse	kenadesse kenisse
inessive		kenas	kenades kenis
elative		kenast	kenadest kenist
allative		kenale	kenadele kenile
adessive		kenal	kenadel kenil
ablative		kenalt	kenadelt kenilt
translative		kenaks	kenadeks keniks
terminative		kenani	kenadeni
essive		kenana	kenadena
abessive		kenata	kenadeta
comitative		kenaga	kenadega

Descendants

• → Ingrian: kena

Garo

Etymology

Perhaps vaguely related to Bengali ঘেন্না (ghenna).

Verb

kena

1. to be afraid, to fear

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay kena, from Classical Malay کنا (kena), from Old Malay [script needed] (knā), from Proto-Malayic *kəna, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kəna, from Proto-Austronesian *kəNa (“be ensnared, caught in a trap; suffer, undergo, be struck by something; be entrapped or deceived; hit the mark, be ‘on target’, correct, right, true”).

• Semantic loan from Javanese ꦏꦼꦤ (kena, “able; can, allowed; succeed”, literally “hit, struck”) for sense related to agreement, approval; pleasure.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /kəˈna/ [kəˈna]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ke‧na

Verb

kena

1. (transitive, intransitive when with a preposition) to touch, hit [with di ‘on’; or with ke ‘to’]

   Synonyms: kenai, sentuh

   Cairan asamnya kena jas.

   The acid liquid hit the jacket.

2. (transitive, intransitive when with a preposition) to strike [with di ‘on’; or with ke ‘to’]

   Tembakan tadi sangat kena sasaran!

   That shot was very on target!

3. (intransitive) to be exact, to be accurate, to be precise

   Synonyms: cocok, patut, tepat

4. (transitive, sometimes auxiliary) to be affected

   Synonym: terkena

   Anakku kena sengat tawon.

   My child was stung by a wasp.

Adjective

kena

1. (in some compounds) -able

   kena pajak ― taxable

Derived terms

• berkena (“to hit on”)
• berkena-kenaan (“to hit on each other”)
• berkenaan (“to relate, be related; to agree; regarding”)
• kena-mengena (“to hit on each other; to relate, be related; to care for (each other)”)
• kenai (“to hit on, strike”)
• kenakan (“to wear”)
• mengena (“to hit on; to strike”)
• mengena-ngenakan
• mengenai (“regarding”)
• pengenaan (“wearing, imposition”)
• perkenaan
• sekenanya
• terkena (“to be hit, striked; to be affected”)

• (archaic, obsolete) kena andika (“to be punished, cursed”)
• kena apa (“why”)
• kena badan
• (archaic, obsolete) kena emas (“to be bribed”)
• kena hati (“to be affected emotionally”)
• kena jaring
• kena lotre (“to win a lottery; to get a lot of money”)
• kena pukul (“to be hit; to be hurt emotionally”)
• kena sembur

References

• Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*keNa”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Further reading

• “kena” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Ingrian

Etymology

Borrowed from Estonian kena (“pretty”).

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈkenɑ/, [ˈke̞nɑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈkenɑ/, [ˈke̞nɑ]
• Rhymes: -enɑ
• Hyphenation: ke‧na

Adjective

kena

1. beautiful, pretty
2. skilled, skillful

Declension

Declension of kena (type 3/kana, no gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	kena	kenat
genitive	kenan	kennoin
partitive	kennaa	kenoja
illative	kennaa	kennoi
inessive	kenas	kenois
elative	kenast	kenoist
allative	kenalle	kenoille
adessive	kenal	kenoil
ablative	kenalt	kenoilt
translative	kenaks	kenoiks
essive	kenanna, kennaan	kenoinna, kennoin
exessive1)	kenant	kenoint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

Synonyms

• (beautiful): See Thesaurus:käppiä

References

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 153

Javanese

Romanization

kena

1. Romanization of ꦏꦼꦤ

Kikuyu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɛna/

Verb

kena (infinitive gũkena)

1. to be glad

Derived terms

(Nouns)

• gĩkeno class 7

Anagrams

• nake

Malay

Alternative forms

• kene (dialectal, informal)

Etymology

From Classical Malay کنا (kena), from Old Malay [script needed] (knā), from Proto-Malayic *kəna, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *kəna, from Proto-Austronesian *kəNa (“be ensnared, caught in a trap; suffer, undergo, be struck by something; be entrapped or deceived; hit the mark, be ‘on target’, correct, right, true”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈna/ [kəˈna]
  • Rhymes: -a
• (Johor-Riau) IPA^(key): /ˈkənə/ [ˈkə.nə]
  • Rhymes: -ə

Verb

kena (Jawi spelling کنا)

1. to incur, to bring upon oneself, to be touched adversely
2. to contact, to experience, to exactly touch or hit off
3. to touch, to strike, to hit, to affect
4. to have to do, to need to do, to need

   Synonyms: perlu, harus

5. to be exact, to be accurate, to be precise

   Synonyms: cocok, patut, tepat

Derived terms

Affixed terms and other derivations

Regular affixed derivations:

• kenaan [repetition / reciprocity] (-an)
• berkenaan [stative / habitual + repetition / reciprocity] (beR- + -an)
• mengenakan [agent focus + causative benefactive] (meN- + -kan)
• dikenakan [patient focus + causative benefactive] (di- + -kan)
• terkena [agentless action] (teR-)

Irregular affixed derivations, other derivations and compound words:

• kenapa (“why”)
• kena-mengena

Descendants

• → English: kena
• Indonesian: kena

Further reading

• “kena” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.
• Austronesian Comparative Dictionary -*keNa

Marshallese

Etymology

Borrowed from English Gehenna, from ecclesiastical Latin gehenna, from Ancient Greek γέεννα (géenna), from Hebrew גֵּיהִנּוֹם (ge'henom, “hell”, literally “valley of Hinnom”).

Pronunciation

• (phonetic) IPA^(key): [kɛːnʲɑ], (enunciated) [kɛ nʲɑ]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /kɛjnʲæɰ/
• Bender phonemes: {keynah}

Noun

kena

1. Gehenna; hell

References

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

• 𑀓𑁂𑀦 (Brahmi script)
• केन (Devanagari script)
• কেন (Bengali script)
• කෙන (Sinhalese script)
• ကေန or ၵေၼ (Burmese script)
• เกน or เกนะ (Thai script)
• ᨠᩮᨶ (Tai Tham script)
• ເກນ or ເກນະ (Lao script)
• កេន (Khmer script)
• 𑄇𑄬𑄚 (Chakma script)

Pronoun

kena

1. masculine/neuter instrumental singular of ka

Rwanda-Rundi

Verb

-kena (infinitive gukena, perfective -kennye)

1. to be poor, be destitute

   Antonyms: -kira, -tunga

Derived terms

• umukene

Sotho

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-jíngɪda.

Verb

kena

1. to enter