也

Han character

也 (radical 5, 乙+2, 3 strokes, cangjie input 心木 (PD), four-corner 4471₂, composition ⿻乜丨)

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 也
Spring and Autumn	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Chu Slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts
Bronze inscriptions b17218 Small seal script s09381 Transcribed ancient scripts L35048 L35049 L35050 L35051 L17347 L17348 L17349 L17350 L17351 L17352 L17353
References: Mostly from Richard Sears' Chinese Etymology site (authorisation), which in turn draws data from various collections of ancient forms of Chinese characters, including: Shuowen Jiezi (small seal), Jinwen Bian (bronze inscriptions), Liushutong (Liushutong characters) and Yinxu Jiaguwen Bian (oracle bone script).

Uncertain. There are various possible explanations:

1. The traditional glyph origin given in Shuowen explains the character to be a pictogram (象形) of female genitalia.
2. It is possibly a pictogram (象形) of an ancient funnel or wash basin. It may be an early form of 匜.
3. It was once interchangeable with 它 and may have originated as a simplification.
4. It may have been created to represent the modal particle (語氣詞／语气词 (yǔqìcí)). In some bronze inscriptions, it appears to be a mouth (口) with a curved line descending from it to represent air coming out of the mouth.

Pronunciation

Definitions

也

1. also; too; as well

   我也去了。  ―  Wǒ yě qù le.  ―  I also went.

   • 我也是中國人。 / 我也是中国人。  ―  Wǒ yě shì zhōngguórén.  ―  I am Chinese too.
2. (in negative sentences) neither, either

   你如果不去，我也不去。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ rúguǒ bù qù, wǒ yě bù qù. [Pinyin]

   If you don't go, I won't either.

   • 我也沒有看見過它。 [MSC, trad.]
     我也没有看见过它。 [MSC, simp.]

     Wǒ yě méiyǒu kànjiàn guò tā. [Pinyin]

     I haven't seen it either.

3. Used for emphasis.

   這也太不像話了。 / 这也太不像话了。  ―  Zhè yě tài bùxiànghuà le.  ―  This is way too outrageous.

   1. With object fronting.

      • 他飯也不吃，覺也不睡。 [MSC, trad.]
        他饭也不吃，觉也不睡。 [MSC, simp.]

        Tā fàn yě bù chī, jiào yě bù shuì. [Pinyin]

        (Disappointingly) he neither eats nor sleeps.

   2. Used in the 連……也…… constructions for stronger emphasis. Interchangeable with 都. even

      • 他連畜生也不如，連自己的父母也不養活。 [MSC, trad.]
        他连畜生也不如，连自己的父母也不养活。 [MSC, simp.]

        Tā lián xùshēng yě bùrú, lián zìjǐ de fùmǔ yě bù yǎnghuó. [Pinyin]

        He is no better than an animal, because he doesn't even support his own parents.

   3. Used in the 再……也…… concessive constructions. still, anyway, nevertheless

      • 你再聰明，也回答不了這個問題。 [MSC, trad.]
        你再聪明，也回答不了这个问题。 [MSC, simp.]

        Nǐ zài cōngmíng, yě huídá bùliǎo zhè ge wèntí. [Pinyin]

        No matter how smart you are, you won't be able to answer this question.

4. ^† An emphatic final particle of strong affirmation or identity; indeed.
   • 生而知之者，上也 [Classical Chinese]  ―  shēng ér zhī zhī zhě, shàng yě [Pinyin]  ―  Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men.

   • 其西有大山，天下至高者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

     Qí xī yǒu dà shān, tiānxià zhì gāo zhě yě. [Pinyin]

     Laden with surrounding mountains, it is clearly the most supreme under heaven.

5. A surname​. Ye
6. (Teochew) if

Compounds

Kanji

(“Jinmeiyō” kanji used for names)

1. to be
2. also
3. too

Etymology

From classical Japanese なり (nari), a contraction of に (ni) and あり (ari).

Verb

也 (hiragana なり, rōmaji nari)

1. The classical Japanese copula “to be”, equivalent to modern Japanese である (de aru) or だ (da).

Hanja

也 • (ya)

• Eumhun:
  • Sound (hangeul): 야 (revised: ya, McCune–Reischauer: ya)
  • Name (hangeul): 이끼, 어조사 (revised: ikki, eojosa, McCune–Reischauer: ikki, ǒjosa)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Han character

也 (dã, dạ, giã)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.