Where does “言い” come from?

言い (Japanese) comes from Japanese 言う, from Proto-Japonic ipu.

Ancestry of “言い”, step by step

言い traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 言う

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese言うto say, to tell somebody; to call, to name, to...
2Proto-Japonicipu—

via Japanese 物言い

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese物言いa way of speaking, wording
2Japanese物言うto talk

Words derived from “言い”

Every word from Proto-Japonic ipu →Every word from Japanese 言う →
言い — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer