ば

The hiragana character は (ha) with a dakuten (゛).

• IPA^(key): [ba̠]

ば (romaji ba)

1. The hiragana syllable ば (ba). Its equivalent in katakana is バ (ba).

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐ゐ゙, 𛄟, ゑ𛅑ゑ゙, を𛅒を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

From Old Japanese. Appears in the Man'yōshū, completed 759 CE.[1]

Originally an extension of the topic particle は (wa),[2] for which the Old Japanese pronunciation is reconstructed as */pa/. The pa changes to ba as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

• IPA^(key): [ba̠]

ば • (-ba) 

1. In Modern Japanese, attaches to the kateikei, and in Classical Japanese, attaches to the mizenkei, to express the hypothetical condition: if

   雨(あめ)が降(ふ)れば遠(えん)足(そく)を中(ちゅう)止(し)する。

   Ame ga fureba ensoku o chūshi suru.

   If it rains, we will suspend our trip.

   急(いそ)がば回(まわ)れ ― isogaba maware ― If you rush, you'll go round → more haste, less speed

2. In Modern Japanese, attaches to the kateikei, and in Classical Japanese, attaches to the izenkei, to express the precondition for something to happen: if; when

   雨(あめ)が降(ふ)れば道(みち)が濡(ぬ)れる。

   Ame ga fureba michi ga nureru.

   The road gets wet when it rains.

   • c. late 9th–mid-10th century, Taketori Monogatari

     それを見(み)れば、三(さん)寸(すん)ばかりなる人(ひと)いと美(うつく)しうて居(ゐ)たり。

     Sore o mireba, sansun bakari naru hito ito utsukushūte itari.

     When he looked at it, there sat a very lovely human being about three sun long.

   • 2007, yura (lyrics), 神前暁 (music), “キラメキラリ”, in THE IDOLM@STER MASTER ARTIST 02 高槻やよい:

     宇(う)宙(ちゅう)から見(み)れば地(ち)球(きゅう)も流(なが)れ星(ぼし)

     uchū kara mireba chikyū mo nagareboshi

     If you see from the universe the earth is also a shooting star

3. In the form …ば…ほど (… ba … hodo): the more …, the more

   学(まな)べば学(まな)ぶほど、何(なに)も知(し)らなかった事(こと)に気(き)づく

   Manabeba manabu hodo, nani mo shiranakatta koto ni kizuku

   The more I learned, the more I felt I didn't know anything.

4. Links sentences parallel in meaning. The sentences usually incorporate a も (mo): … and …

   日(に)本(ほん)語(ご)もできれば英(えい)語(ご)もできる

   nihongo mo dekireba eigo mo dekiru

   to be able to speak both Japanese and English

5. (archaic) In the form mizenkei + ば (ba) + meireikei on the same verb: it doesn't matter if …; may as well

   死(し)なば死(し)ね ― shinaba shine ― I might as well die.

6. (archaic) In Modern Japanese, attaches to the kateikei, and in Classical Japanese, attaches to the izenkei, to express the reason or cause: because; as

   雨(あめ)降(ふ)れば運(うん)動(どう)会(かい)は中(ちゅう)止(し)せり。

   Ame fureba undōkai wa chūshi seri.

   The sports meeting is suspended due to rain.

   • 1901, 慶應義塾, 修身要領

     結(けっ)婚(こん)は人(じん)生(せい)の重(じゅう)大(だい)事(じ)なれば配(はい)偶(ぐう)の選(せん)択(たく)は最(もっと)も慎(しん)重(ちょう)ならざる可(べか)らず

     kekkon wa jinsei no jūdaiji nareba haigū no sentaku wa motto mo shinchō narazaru bekarazu

     Since marriage is a major event in life, the choice of a spouse has to be the most cautious.

   • 1904, 芳賀矢一, 中等教科明治文典:

     第(だい)六(ろく)活(かつ)用(よう)形(けい)の「死(し)ね」は命(めい)令(れい)をいふときに用(もち)ゐる形(かたち)なれば命(めい)令(れい)形(けい)といふ。

     Dairoku katsuyōkei no “shine” wa meirei o iu toki ni mochiiru katachi nareba meireikei to iu.

     The sixth conjugated form shine is the form used when expressing a command, so it's called the imperative form.

This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary word; particle”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

• (hypothetical condition): なら (nara), ならば (naraba)
• (precondition): と (to)
• (may as well): ともかまわない (tomo kamawanai)
• (reason, cause): から (kara), ので (node)

Contraction of をば (o ba), itself composed of the object particle を (o) + contrastive and emphatic particle は (wa), which voices to ば (ba) due to rendaku (連濁).[3][4]

First cited to a text from the early 1800s.[3]

• IPA^(key): [ba̠]

ば • (ba) 

1. [from early 1800s] (dialectal) object marker

   Synonym: (standard Japanese) を (o)

May be encountered more commonly where the portion before the particle ends in an /o/ sound or the nasal ん (n), phonological contexts where the /o/ sound of the particle を (o) would be expected to contract.