کو

کو (ko)

1. (interrogative) where

• کده (kode)

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

کو (kū)

1. marks the dative case: to

   میرے کو ― mere kū ― to me

کو

1. Jawi spelling of ku

کو • (ku)

1. (colloquial or poetic) where is...

   Synonym: کجاست (kojâ-st)

   مدادت کو؟ ― medâd-et ku? ― Where is your pencil?

   مرده کو؟ (colloquial) ― mard-e ku? ― Where is the man?

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, 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?

2. (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 ân davi davâzdah fan
     vânhame mardi in na mard o na zan

     ;
     

کو • (ku)

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

کو • (ku)

1. Contraction of که او (ke u, “that he/she...; which...”).
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, 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.

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.

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /koː/

کو • (ko) (Hindi spelling को)

1. 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

2. in, at the time of

   میں شام کو گھر لوٹوں گا۔ ― ma͠i śām ko ghar lauṭū̃ gā. ― I will return home in the evening.

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).

• 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