minimachi

HIRAGANA · AN OLD CHARACTER

ゐ (wi) in hiragana

ゐ is an old hiragana for wi. Since 1946, standard spelling writes い instead, so when you meet ゐ, or its katakana ヰ as in ニッカウヰスキー, read it i.

Old reading
wi
Read today
i
Modern spelling
い
Katakana
ヰ
The sound wi today
ウィ, in katakana loanwords
Type
wyi
Strokes
1
On this page

Then and now.

The old letter, in one stroke

The full model: one stroke.

start end

Written today
い · iHow the same words are spelled today.
More hiragana activities

WHY IT IS NO LONGER USED

Why ゐ is no longer used.

ゐ was read wi. During the Kamakura period (1185–1333) it came to be said i, like い, so two letters wrote one sound.

In 1946 new spelling rules (現代かなづかい) based spelling on modern pronunciation, with a few exceptions such as the particles は, へ and を: ゐ and ゑ became い and え, and を was kept only for the particle.

The current rules (現代仮名遣い, 1986) list no ゐ or ゑ. Their W row has only わ, and を for the particle.

WHERE YOU MAY STILL SEE IT

Where you still see ゐ.

  • Nikka Whisky writes its name ニッカウヰスキー, with the katakana ヰ, read i. The ordinary word is ウイスキー.
  • The iroha poem, which uses each kana once, has ゐ in the line うゐのおくやま (ui no okuyama).
  • Classical Japanese texts (school textbooks still print them in the old spelling), some haiku and tanka, and books and documents in the old spelling, mostly printed before 1946.

OLD SPELLINGS

Words once written with ゐ.

  • いる (iru, “to be there”, for people and animals) was written ゐる. Other verbs read iru, like いる “to need”, were not.
  • いど (ido, a well) was written ゐど.
  • いのしし (inoshishi, a wild boar) was written ゐのしし.
  • あい (ai, indigo, 藍) was written あゐ. (あい “love”, 愛, was always あい.)

QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK

Short answers to what people ask.

Which hiragana are no longer used?

ゐ and ゑ, with their katakana ヰ and ヱ. They left standard spelling in 1946. を stayed, but only for the particle. Many older variant shapes, called hentaigana, were dropped from school use in 1900; you still see them on some shop signs.

How do you pronounce ゐ?

As i, like い. When people name the old letter itself, they may say wi. Audio is not available on this page.

How do you write the sound wi today?

In katakana loanwords, with ウィ, as in ウィンドウ (window) or ウィーン (Vienna). Some words keep ウイ, as in ウイスキー (whisky), the usual spelling.

What is ゐ in katakana?

ヰ. It comes from the kanji 井; ゐ comes from a cursive form of 為.

Is there a kana for wu or yi?

Not in modern use. Modern standard Japanese has no separate wu or yi sound, so the table leaves those places empty. Some Edo- and Meiji-era scholars made shapes to fill them; they never came into ordinary writing.

How do I type ゐ?

With Japanese input switched on, type wyi: Apple documents it for the Mac, and Google’s open-source input table has it. Typing wi gives うぃ instead.

How many strokes is ゐ?

One, in the model on this page.

WRITE IT

How to write ゐ: stroke order

Shape: A rounded triangle, like a rice ball, in one stroke.

  1. One stroke

    One continuous stroke. A short, nearly level line; a turn at the top right; a long line down to the lower left; turn and go back up across it; then a big loop round to the right and a small curl at the bottom.

You will rarely need to write ゐ, because modern spelling uses い. It is here so you can recognize it and copy it. The model shows the shape and stroke order; it does not label the stroke ending.

Stroke diagrams adapted from KanjiVG, © Ulrich Apel and contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0. License and attribution.

THE W ROW

The W row, then and now.

The old W row had wa, wi, we and wo; there was no separate wu sound. Modern hiragana keeps わ (wa) and を, read o and used only as the particle. ん (n) sits outside the rows.

わ · wain useゐ · wiold, read i
wuno wu sound
ゑ · weold, read eを · woread o today; only the particle
Sources and review status

This page is a draft: a Japanese educator has not reviewed it yet.

Stroke model: KanjiVG, © Ulrich Apel and contributors, CC BY-SA 3.0 (source record). License and attribution.

Draft content · Japanese educator review pending.

minimachi · AN OLD HIRAGANA

ゐ · wi

ゐ is an old hiragana for wi. Since 1946, standard spelling writes い instead, so when you meet ゐ, or its katakana ヰ as in ニッカウヰスキー, read it i.

The old letter
Today: い (i)

Write it in one stroke.

  1. One continuous stroke. A short, nearly level line; a turn at the top right; a long line down to the lower left; turn and go back up across it; then a big loop round to the right and a small curl at the bottom.

Trace, then copy.

Stroke model: KanjiVG, © Ulrich Apel and contributors · CC BY-SA 3.0 · kanjivg.tagaini.net · license: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Draft content; Japanese educator review pending.
Full page and sources: minimachi.com/hiragana/wi/