Where does “yi” come from?

yi (Nigerian Pidgin) comes from English he, from Middle English he, from Old English hē, from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ, from Proto-Germanic hīz — nominative plural masculine of *hiz; these, these...

yi (Nigerian Pidgin): they (singular gender-neutral pronoun)

Definitions

  1. they (singular gender-neutral pronoun)

Ancestry of “yi”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishheA male person or animal already known or implied;...
2Middle EnglishheThird-person singular masculine pronoun: he; it;...
3Old Englishhēhey
4Proto-West Germanic*hiʀ—
5Proto-Germanichīznominative plural masculine of *hiz; these, these...
Every word from Proto-Germanic hīz →Every word from Proto-West Germanic *hiʀ →Every word from Old English hē →