Ye (kana)

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Character of the Japanese writing system

hiragana	katakana
another katakana

transliteration

hiragana origin

江

katakana origin

江

another katakana origin

曳延要遥叡兄江吉枝衣

U+1B001

wa	ra	ya	ma	ha	na	ta	sa	ka	a
wi	ri	(yi)	mi	hi	ni	chi	shi	ki	i
(wu)	ru	yu	mu	fu	nu	tsu	su	ku	u
we	re	(ye)	me	he	ne	te	se	ke	e
wo	ro	yo	mo	ho	no	to	so	ko	o
			n

Kana modifiers and marks

Multi-syllabic kana

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be, found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
Find sources: "Ye" kana – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2020)

Ye (hiragana: 𛀁, katakana: エ,𛄡) is a Japanese syllable or a kana used to write it, no longer in standard use.

History※

It is presumed that 𛀁 would have represented [je] . In the 10th century, e and ye progressively merged into ye, and then during the Edo period the pronunciation changed from /je/ to /e/.

However, during the Meiji period, linguists almost unanimously agreed on the kana for yi, ye, and wu. 𛀆 and 𛄢 are thought to have never occurred as syllables in Japanese. And 𛀁 was merged with え and エ.

Characters※

Nara period–Heian period※

Japanese people separated e and ye in Man'yōgana, early Hiragana and "early Katakana."

Man'yōgana

e
- 愛、哀、埃、衣、依、榎、荏、得
- 可愛
ye
- 延、曳、睿、叡、盈、要、縁、裔、兄、柄、枝、吉、江

Hiragana

e
- (Undiscovered)
ye
- etc.

Katakana

e
- 𛀀 etc.
ye
- エ etc.

After that, e and ye merged into ye in the 10th century, before eventually evolving back to e.

Edo period–Meiji period※

In the Edo period and the Meiji period, some Japanese linguists tried to separate kana e and kana ye again. The shapes of characters differed with each linguist. 𛀁 and 𛄡 were just two of many shapes.

They were phonetic symbols to fill in the blanks of gojuon table. Japanese people didn't separate them in normal writing.

e
- Traditional kana
  - え (Hiragana)
  - (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - エ (Katakana)
- Constructed kana
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)

ye
- Traditional kana
  - え (平仮名)
  - 𛀁 (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - エ (Katakana)
- Constructed kana
  - え (え with dots. Hiragana.)
  - エ (エ with dots. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - 𛄡 (A part of 延. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 兄. Katakana.)
  - (A part of 延. Katakana.)

These suggestions weren't accepted.

Unicode※

The hiragana version is encoded as HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC YE (with the normative alias of HENTAIGANA LETTER E-1) in the position U+1B001. The katakana version is encoded as KATAKANA LETTER ARCHAIC YE, in the position of U+1B121.

References※

^ Traditional kana
^ Constructed in Edo period–Meiji period
^ Iannacone, Jake (2020). "Reply to The Origin of Hiragana /wu/ 平仮名のわ行うの字源に対する新たな発見"
^ 『世界の文字の図典普及版』2009年, 世界の文字研究会, 吉川弘文館
^ 平仮名(大辞林特別ページ)
^ 片仮名(大辞林特別ページ)
^ Frellesvig, Bjarke (1995). A Case Study in Diachronic Phonology: The Japanese Onbin Sound Changes. Aarhus University Press. p. 73
^ 綴字篇
^ 綴字篇
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 綴字篇
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 綴字篇
^ 小学日本文典入門. 巻之1
^ 小学日本文典入門. 巻之1
^ 日本文典大綱
^ 仮名遣の栞
^ 日本新文典
^ 日本文法問答. 初編
^ 新式漢文捷径初歩
^ 実用日本語法 : 日清対訳
^ 小学教師心得・小学入門
^ 英和単語図解. 前篇
^ 古言衣延辨證補
^ 辞礎
^ 辞礎
^ 音韻啓蒙 : 2巻. 上巻