Origin of Nanka


When watching anime I heard this word come across (Tsuki ga kirei, ep4,
somewhere at the end) and I was wondering if it is a combination of nani and
ka or just another word. If it is a combination then why would it be used like
that? with both nani and ka, which both imply a question. Alternatively, I
know a word exists, which is nanika (I believe it ment: 'something'). Could it
be just this word, but then the i removed. If that is the case why would it be
removed? Anyway, it would be appreciated if anyone could shed some more light
on this whole thing.




なんか is an informal version of 何か (なにか). So you are correct in your assumption
that it is a combination of なに and か.

Interrogative words like なに (what), どこ (where), どれ (which), etc, are known as
'indeterminate pronouns' (see a related answer
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/78025/%E3%81%AB-%E3%81%B8-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%8B-in-
describing-place/78026#78026)), and when combined with the particle か,
indicate that the object is unidentified. It generally corresponds to 'some ～'
in English. Here are some more examples of か being added to indeterminate
pronouns:

> なにか something  
>  だれか somebody  
>  どこか somewhere  
>  どちらか one of the two  
>  いつか some day  
>  いくつか a few  
>  いくらか some amount




なんか is an informal version of 何か (なにか). So you are correct in your assumption
that it is a combination of なに and か.

Interrogative words like なに (what), どこ (where), どれ (which), etc, are known as
'indeterminate pronouns' (see a related answer
[here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/78025/%E3%81%AB-%E3%81%B8-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%8B-in-
describing-place/78026#78026)), and when combined with the particle か,
indicate that the object is unidentified. It generally corresponds to 'some ～'
in English. Here are some more examples of か being added to indeterminate
pronouns:

> なにか something  
>  だれか somebody  
>  どこか somewhere  
>  どちらか one of the two  
>  いつか some day  
>  いくつか a few  
>  いくらか some amount

