幾許

幾許

1. (literary) how much; how many

Compound of 幾 (iku, “how”) +‎ ば (ba, “much, amount”, ancient element, also appears in obsolete そこば (sokoba, “that much”)) +‎ く (ku, ancient suffix used to form adverbs; compare か (ka) used to form adjectives).^[1]

First cited to the Man'yōshū, completed in roughly 759.^[1]

The kanji spelling is an orthographic borrowing from Chinese 幾許 / 几许 (jǐxǔ).

• (Tokyo) いくばく [ìkúbákú] (Heiban – [0])^[2]
• IPA^(key): [ikɯ̟ba̠kɯ̟]

幾(いく)許(ばく) • (ikubaku) 

1. how much, how many

   Synonyms: どのぐらい, どれほど, いくら

2. (usually followed by か (ka)), few, a little bit

   Synonyms: 僅か (wazuka), 少し (sukoshi)

   いくばくかの金(かね)を渡(わた)す

   ikubaku ka no kane o watasu

   to hand over a little bit of money

3. (chiefly in the negative) a little bit, not much

   余命(よめい)幾許(いくばく)もない

   yomei ikubaku mo nai

   having a short time to live

This term is often spelled in kana.

Various uncommon readings.

幾許(こきし) or 幾許(こきだ) or 幾許(ここだ) or 幾許(ここば) or 幾許(ここら) • (kokishi or kokida or kokoda or kokoba or kokora) 

1. many, a lot

幾許(いくだ) • (ikuda) 

1. (chiefly in the negative) a little bit, not much