Where does “や行” come from?
や行 (Japanese) comes 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, from Middle Chinese 衣.
や行 (Japanese): the eighth row of the 五十音図, consisting of the five kana や/ヤ, い/イ (alternatively, 𛀆/𛄠), ゆ/ユ, え/エ (alternatively, 𛀁/𛄡) and よ/ヨ, two of which are taken from the あ行 to represent classical grammatical inflection in modern text
Definitions
- the eighth row of the 五十音図, consisting of the five kana や/ヤ, い/イ (alternatively, 𛀆/𛄠), ゆ/ユ, え/エ (alternatively, 𛀁/𛄡) and よ/ヨ, two of which are taken from the あ行 to represent classical grammatical inflection in modern text
Ancestry of “や行”, step by step
や行 traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Japanese や
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japanese | や | and/or; is, are; Alternative form of いや |
| 2 | Japanese | じゃ | so, then—used for connecting to a reasonable... |
| 3 | Japanese | である | To be: the copula, with the same function as だ and its polite form です |
| 4 | Japanese | で | at; with, by, using; indicating the following... |
| 5 | Japanese | ぜ | sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis,... |
| 6 | Japanese | ぞえ | sentence-ending particle signifying emphasis, used to lightly press one's point, with affectionate overtones |
| 7 | Japanese | え | Alternative form of い |
| 8 | Middle Chinese | 衣 | — |