Where does “い段” come from?

い段 (Japanese) comes from Japanese い, from Japanese や, from Japanese じゃ, from Japanese である, from Japanese で, from Japanese ぜ, from Japanese ぞえ, from Japanese え.

い段 (Japanese): the second and second-highest-graded column of the 五十音図, consisting of the nine kana い/イ, き/キ, し/シ, ち/チ, に/ニ, ひ/ヒ, み/ミ, り/リ and ゐ/ヰ, and sometimes additionally 𛀆/𛄠

Definitions

  1. the second and second-highest-graded column of the 五十音図, consisting of the nine kana い/イ, き/キ, し/シ, ち/チ, に/ニ, ひ/ヒ, み/ミ, り/リ and ゐ/ヰ, and sometimes additionally 𛀆/𛄠

Ancestry of “い段”, step by step

い段 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese い

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseいUsed in compounds with certain sentence-ending...
2Japaneseやand/or; is, are; Alternative form of いや
3Japaneseじゃso, then—used for connecting to a reasonable...
4JapaneseであるTo be: the copula, with the same function as だ and its polite form です
5Japaneseでat; with, by, using; indicating the following...
6Japaneseぜsentence-ending particle signifying emphasis,...
7Japaneseぞえ­ sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis, used to lightly press one's point, with affectionate overtones
8JapaneseえAlternative form of い
9Middle Chinese衣—

via Japanese 段

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese段steps (up and down); stairs
2Chinese段—
Every word from Middle Chinese 衣 →Every word from Japanese え →Every word from Japanese ぞえ →