伊 (yī): he; she (literary)

Meanings

1 he; she (literary)
2 used in transliterations (e.g. Iraq 伊拉克, Iran 伊朗)

Characters

伊

yī

he/she (literary); phonetic character

Examples

伊拉克在中东。

Yīlākè zài Zhōngdōng.

Iraq is in the Middle East.

伊朗的历史很悠久。

Yīlǎng de lìshǐ hěn yōujiǔ.

Iran has a long history.

Tips

usage

In modern Chinese, 伊 is mainly seen in transliterations: 伊拉克 (Iraq), 伊朗 (Iran), 伊斯兰 (Islam). Its literary meaning of 'he/she' survives in some dialects (notably Shanghainese and Hokkien) and classical texts.

Components

radical

亻 rén

person (radical)

Left radical 亻 is the side-form of 人 (person). Marks 伊 as a person-related word: in classical and dialect Chinese it serves as a third-person pronoun ('he, she') and as a polite or literary 'this one'. Indexing radical and ties 伊 to other person-pronoun characters such as 他 and 你.

phonetic

尹 yǐn

to govern; magistrate (phonetic)

Right component 尹 — a hand holding a baton, the picture of a steward or magistrate. Supplies the sound (yǐn → yī, a tone shift) and a faint dignified flavour, fitting the literary register where 伊 most often appears: classical poetry, transliterations like 伊朗 (Iran), 伊斯兰 (Islam).