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也

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: せ, ㄝ, 𬻿, and 𬼂
也 U+4E5F, 也
CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-4E5F
← 乞
[U+4E5E]
CJK Unified Ideographs 习 →
[U+4E60]

Translingual

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Stroke order
3 strokes
Stroke order

Han character

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也 (Kangxi radical 5, 乙+2, 3 strokes, Cangjie input 心木 (PD), four-corner 44712, composition ⿻乜丨)

Derived characters

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Descendants

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References

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  • Kangxi Dictionary: page 84, character 4
  • Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 171
  • Dae Jaweon: page 170, character 4
  • Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 50, character 5
  • Unihan data for U+4E5F

Chinese

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trad. 也
simp. # 也
alternative forms

Glyph origin

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Historical forms of the character 也
Spring and Autumn Warring States Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han) Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions Chu slip and silk script Small seal script Transcribed ancient scripts



References:

Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation),
which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including:

  • Shuowen Jiezi (small seal),
  • Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions),
  • Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and
  • Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Pictogram (象形) — A child (子) with their mouth (口) open crying. The original form of 嗁 (OC *l'eː, “to cry”) (Chi Hsu-Sheng, 2014). The child's arms were removed during bronze inscriptions and the two components fused together in the modern form.

Other various possible explanations include:

  • The traditional glyph origin given in Shuowen explains the character to be a pictogram (象形) of female genitalia.
  • It was once interchangeable with 它 and may have originated as a simplification. Hence, it could be the pictogram of a snake.
  • It may have been created to represent the modal particle (語氣詞/语气词 (yǔqìcí)). In some bronze inscriptions, it appears to be a mouth (口) with a curved line descending from it to represent air coming out of the mouth.
  • It is possibly a pictogram (象形) of an ancient funnel or wash basin. It may be an early form of 匜.
  • It may have signified a big-headed scorpion with its legs flattened, signifying as something very "flat" or "stretched out".

Etymology

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classical sentence-ending copulative particle, topic particle

Unclear. Possibly Sino-Tibetan, connectable to Tibetan ལ (la), which is often used as a marker (for oblique locative, dative, possessor in constructions with a copula verb, etc.) but also a topicalizer like ནི (ni, “as for”) (Schuessler, 2007).

On the other hand, Pulleyblank (1995) notes the similarity with anteclassical 唯 (OC *ɢʷi) as a copula and a topicalizer.

also, too, as well
This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Maybe related to classical synonym 亦 (MC yek)?”

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

The Modern Cantonese pronunciation escaped from regular sound changes during its evolution to the modern pronunciation jaa5 due to its highly frequent usage. The expected reading is je5.

Pronunciation

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Note:
  • ǎ - vernacular;
  • iǎ - literary.
Note:
  • iâ - vernacular;
  • iá - literary.
Note:
  • iā/iǎ/ā/ǎ - vernacular;
  • iá - literary.
Note: a7 - “if”.
Note:
  • 6gha (Shanghainese), 8ghaeq (Suzhounese) - as particle;
  • 6gha (Shanghainese), 2gha (Suzhounese)- vernacular;
  • 6gha & 6ye (Shanghainese), 1ie (Suzhounese) - literary;
  • 1a (Shanghainese) - only in 也怕;
  • 3ie (Hangzhounese)- main reading;
  • 6gha (Hangzhounese) - younger speakers' alternative reading.

Rime
Character 也
Reading # 1/1
Initial (聲) 以 (36)
Final (韻) 麻 (100)
Tone (調) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open
Division (等) III
Fanqie 羊者切
Baxter yaeX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/jiaX/
Pan
Wuyun
/jiaX/
Shao
Rongfen
/iaX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/jiaX/
Li
Rong
/iaX/
Wang
Li
/jĭaX/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/i̯aX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
yě
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
je5
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character 也
Reading # 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
yě
Middle
Chinese
‹ yæX ›
Old
Chinese
/*lAjʔ/
English (final particle)

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character 也
Reading # 1/1
No. 14773
Phonetic
component
也
Rime
group
歌
Rime
subdivision
1
Corresponding
MC rime
野
Old
Chinese
/*laːlʔ/

Definitions

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也

  1. (Classical) Particle used at the end of copular constructions involving a nominal predicate; to be (although not grammatically a verb)
    我亦人也。 [Literary Chinese]  ―  Wǒ yì rén yě. [Pinyin]  ―  I am a person, too.
    其西有大山,天下至高者也。 [Literary Chinese, trad. and simp.]
    Qí xī yǒu dà shān, tiānxià zhì gāo zhě yě. [Pinyin]
    In the west there are great mountains, which are the tallest in the world.
    1. Often used more loosely than the English copula to indicate a cause or relation.
  2. (Classical) Topic-marking particle used at the end of noun phrases.
    Synonym: 者 (zhě)
    1. when, at the time of; especially commonly used for temporal topics, often as 及其……也.
  3. (Classical) Verb phrase-final particle marking continuous aspect, especially common for assertions of unchanging fact.
  4. also; too; as well; (in negative sentences) neither; either
    我也去了。  ―  Wǒ yě qù le.  ―  I also went.
    我也是中國人。/我也是中国人。  ―  Wǒ yě shì zhōngguórén.  ―  I am Chinese too.
    你如果不去,我也不去。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]
    Nǐ rúguǒ bù qù, wǒ yě bù qù. [Pinyin]
    If you don't go, I won't either.
    我也沒有看見過它。 [MSC, trad.]
    我也没有看见过它。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ yě méiyǒu kànjiàn guò tā. [Pinyin]
    I haven't seen it either.
  5. Used for emphasis.
    這也太不像話了。 [MSC, trad.]
    这也太不像话了。 [MSC, simp.]
    Zhè yě tài bùxiànghuà le. [Pinyin]
    This is way too outrageous.
    1. With object fronting.
      他飯也不吃,覺也不睡。 [MSC, trad.]
      他饭也不吃,觉也不睡。 [MSC, simp.]
      Tā fàn yě bù chī, jiào yě bù shuì. [Pinyin]
      (Disappointingly) he neither eats nor sleeps.
    2. Used in the 連……也…… / 连……也…… constructions for stronger emphasis. Interchangeable with 都. even
      他連畜生也不如,連自己的父母也不養活。 [MSC, trad.]
      他连畜生也不如,连自己的父母也不养活。 [MSC, simp.]
      Tā lián xùshēng yě bùrú, lián zìjǐ de fùmǔ yě bù yǎnghuó. [Pinyin]
      He is no better than an animal, because he doesn't even support his own parents.
    3. Used in the 再……也…… concessive constructions. still, anyway, nevertheless
      你再聰明,也回答不了這個問題。 [MSC, trad.]
      你再聪明,也回答不了这个问题。 [MSC, simp.]
      Nǐ zài cōngmíng, yě huídá bùliǎo zhè ge wèntí. [Pinyin]
      No matter how smart you are, you won't be able to answer this question.
  6. (Teochew) if
  7. a surname, Ye

Synonyms

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Compounds

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Further reading

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  • The template Template:cite-thesis does not use the parameter(s):
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    Please see Module:checkparams for help with this warning.
    Caboara, Marco (2010) The particle ye 也 and related constructions in the Guodian manuscripts of IV century BCE (PhD)‎[1], University of Washington

Japanese

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Kanji

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也

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

  1. to be
  2. (uncommon) also

Readings

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  • Go-on: や (ya)、え (e)
  • Kan-on: や (ya)
  • Kun: なり (nari, 也)、か (ka)、また (mata, 也)

As an alternative form of 迆:

Etymology 1

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Kanji in this term
也
なり
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

Glyph origin

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Orthographic borrowing from Literary Chinese 也 (yě, copula).

Definitions

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For pronunciation and definitions of 也 – see the following entry.
【なり】
[verb] (Classical Japanese or literary) the classical copula “to be”, equivalent to modern Japanese である (de aru) or だ (da), or adjective particle な (na)
[particle] Used when giving an example, without the implication that it might be the best or the only option
[particle] ... or ...
[suffix] (Classical Japanese) A modal auxiliary verb indicating hearsay or conjecture based on what is heard: it sounds like; it is said that
Alternative spellings
𬼂, 𬻿
(This term, 也, is an alternative spelling (terminal form) of the above term.)

Etymology 2

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Kanji in this term
也
また
Jinmeiyō
kun'yomi

Glyph origin

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Orthographic borrowing from Mandarin 也 (yě, “also”). Probably an early modern innovation.

Definitions

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For pronunciation and definitions of 也 – see the following entry.
【また】
[conjunction] and, also
Alternative spellings
又, 亦, 復
(This term, 也, is an alternative spelling (literary, uncommon) of the above term.)

Korean

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Hanja

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也 (eumhun 잇기 야 (itgi ya))

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

也 (eumhun 어조사 야 (eojosa ya))

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

也 (eumhun 잇달을 야 (itdareul ya))

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Vietnamese

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Han character

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也: Hán Việt readings: giã, dã
也: Nôm readings: dạ, dã, giã, rã

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

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  • Hồ Lê (1976). Bảng Tra Chữ Nôm. Hanoi: Viện Ngôn Ngữ Học.
  • Nguyễn, Quang Hồng (2014). Tự Điển Chữ Nôm Dẫn Giải (Nôm Characters with Quotations and Annotations). Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội (Social Sciences Publishing House).
  • Williams, Noriko Kurosawa (2010). "The Key to Kanji". Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, Inc.