Ye (kana)

ye
ye
hiragana;	katakana;
another katakana;
transliteration	ye
hiragana origin	江
katakana origin	江
another katakana origin	延
Man'yōgana	曳延要遥叡兄江吉枝衣
unicode	U+1B001

This article contains Hentaigana characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hentaigana.

Ye (hiragana: 𛀁, katakana: エ, sometimes distinguished as 𛄡) is a Japanese mora or a kana used to write it, no longer in standard use.^[3]

History

It is presumed that 𛀁 would have represented [je] ^ⓘ^{[citation needed]}. 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 morae 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^[4]

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^[5]

e
- (Undiscovered)
ye
- etc.

Katakana^[6]

e
- 𛀀 etc.
ye
- エ etc.

After that, e and ye merged into ye in the 10th century, before eventually evolving back to e.^[7]

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^[8] (Hiragana)
  - (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - エ (Katakana)
- Constructed kana
  - ^[9] (A part of 衣.^[10] Katakana.)
  - ^[11] (A part of 衣.^[12] Katakana.)
  - ^[13] (A part of 衣.^[14] Katakana.)
  - ^[15] (A part of 衣.^[16] Katakana.)
  - ^[17] (A part of 衣.^[18] Katakana.)

ye
- Traditional kana
  - え (平仮名)
  - 𛀁^[19] (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - ^[20] (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - ^[21] (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - ^[22] (Hentaigana of え. Hiragana.)
  - エ^[23] (Katakana)
- Constructed kana
  - え^〻^[24] (え with dots. Hiragana.)
  - エ^〻^[25] (エ with dots. Katakana.)
  - ^[26] (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - ^[27]^[28]^[29] (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - ^[30]^[31] (A part of 衣. Katakana.)
  - 𛄡^[32]^[33] (A part of 延.^[34] Katakana.)
  - ^[35] (A part of 兄.^[36] Katakana.)
  - ^[37] (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