ィ

See also イ, and Appendix:Variations of "i"

Character	ィ
Unicode name	KATAKANA LETTER SMALL I
Codepoint	U+30A3

Japanese

Etymology

Small form of the katakana character イ (i).

Combining form

ィ

1. Small combining form of katakana イ (i) used to explicitly specify the vowel part of the previous katakana character, or to show a speaker's pronunciation or extension of that vowel.

   フィ - the sound [ɸi] rather than [ɸu] (フ) or [çi] (ヒ)

   フィギュア - transliteration of figure

Usage notes

Unlike the hiragana system which is used for Japanese language words for which kanji does not cover, the katakana syllabary is primarily used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese and the writing of loan words (collectively gairaigo), as well as to represent onomatopoeia, technical and scientific terms, and the names of plants, animals, and minerals. Names of Japanese companies as well as certain Japanese language words are also written in katakana rather than the other systems.^[edit]

Related terms

• ぃ (hiragana small i)
• イ (full-size i)

See also

• (Katakana) 片仮名; アァ, イィ, ウゥヴ, エェ, オォ, カヵガ, キギ, クグ, ケヶゲ, コゴ, サザ, シジ, スズ, セゼ, ソゾ, タダ, チヂ, ツッヅ, テデ, トド, ナ, ニ, ヌ, ネ, ノ, ハバパ, ヒビピ, フブプ, ヘベペ, ホボポ, マ, ミ, ム, メ, モ, ヤャ, ユュ, ヨョ, ラ, リ, ル, レ, ロ, ワヮ, ヰ, ヱ, ヲ, ン, ー, ヽ, ヾ ^[edit]