Where does “はい” come from?

はい (Japanese) comes from Japanese は, from Old Japanese は.

はい (Japanese): yes; okay; understood, got it; yes; here;...

Definitions

  1. yes; okay; understood, got it; yes; here;...

Ancestry of “はい”, step by step

はい traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese は

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japaneseはwhat about, where is; Inserted between two verbs...
2Old Japaneseは—

via Proto-Ryukyuan *wa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Ryukyuan*wawe
2Proto-JaponicwaI

Words derived from “はい”

Every word from Old Japanese は →Every word from Japanese は →