耶

yē, yé, ye

耳 + 阝

Definitions

yē (phonetic ye)

yé interrogative particle (classical)

ye final particle indicating enthusiasm etc

Etymology

Corruption of 邪, with the 牙 component replaced with 耳.

Semantic: 耳 Phonetic: 阝

About

耶, a corruption of 邪 with 牙 replaced by 耳, consists of the 'ear' radical 耳 (ěr) on the left and the 'city' radical 阝 (yì, from 邑) on the right. It was used as a sentence-final interrogative particle expressing doubt or rhetorical questions in classical Chinese, like 邪. Today it is primarily a phonetic loan for transcribing foreign words, most famously as the first syllable of Jesus (耶穌), making it prominent in religious contexts.

Etymology Hide

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

今天天气真好耶！

Jīn tiān tiān qì zhēn hǎo yē!

The weather is really nice today!

你也喜欢这个电影耶！

Nǐ yě xǐ huān zhè ge diàn yǐng yē!

You like this movie too!

我们明天去逛街，好耶！

Wǒ men míng tiān qù guàng jiē， hǎo yē!

We're going shopping tomorrow, great!

他居然成功了，好厉害耶！

Tā jū rán chéng gōng le， hǎo lì hài yē!

He actually succeeded, that's so impressive!

这个好消息，要不要告诉他耶？

Zhè ge hǎo xiāo xi， yào bú yào gào sù tā yē？

Should we tell him this good news or not?

即便遇到挫折，他依然乐观耶。

Jí biàn yù dào cuò zhé， tā yī rán lè guān yē。

Even when he encounters setbacks, he remains optimistic.

对于这个复杂的问题，你的看法是什么耶？

Duì yú zhè ge fù zá de wèn tí， nǐ de kàn fǎ shì shén me yē？

Regarding this complex issue, what is your opinion?

在那个遥远的国度，风俗习惯截然不同耶。

Zài nà ge yáo yuǎn de guó dù， fēng sú xí guàn jié rán bù tóng yē。

In that distant country, the customs and habits are completely different.

Related Characters

Composed characters:

Component: 耳

Component: 阝

耶