Editing Hiragana (section)

== Obsolete kana ==
{{Contains special characters
| special    = uncommon [[Unicode]] characters
| fix        = Help:Multilingual support
| error      = [[Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character|question marks, boxes, or other symbols]]
| characters = the intended characters
| image      = Replacement character.svg
| link       = Specials (Unicode block)#Replacement character
| alt        = <?>
| compact    = 
}}

=== Hentaigana ===
{{main|Hentaigana}}

=== Polysyllabic kana ===
{{main|Kana ligature}}

=== ''e'' and ''i'' ===
On the row beginning with わ /wa/, the hiragana ゐ /wi/ and ゑ /we/ are both quasi-obsolete, only used in some names. They are usually respectively pronounced [i] and [e]. In modified Hepburn romanization, they are generally written as ''i'' and ''e''.<ref name="ALA-LC" />

=== ''yi'', ''ye'' and ''wu'' ===
==== ''yi'' ====
{{see also|Yi (kana)}}
It has not been demonstrated whether the mora /ji/ existed in old Japanese. Though ''ye'' did appear in some textbooks during the [[Meiji period]] along with another kana for ''yi'' in the form of cursive 以. Today it is considered a [[Hentaigana]] by scholars and is encoded in Unicode 10<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1B000.pdf|title=Unicode 10 Extended Kana Block}}</ref> ({{hentaigana|𛀆}}) <ref name="Walter & Walter 1998">Walter & Walter 1998.</ref><ref name="Harvest in Izu" /> This kana could have a colloquial use, to convert the combo yui (ゆい) into yii ({{hentaigana|𛀆}}い), due to other Japanese words having a similar change.<ref name="Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana" />

==== ''ye'' ====
{{see also|Ye (kana)}}
An early, now obsolete, hiragana-esque form of ''ye'' may have existed ([[𛀁|<big style="color:#808080">𛀁</big>]] {{IPA|ja|je|}}<ref name="Unicode Kana Supplement" />) in pre-Classical Japanese (prior to the advent of [[kana]]), but is generally represented for purposes of reconstruction by the kanji 江, and its hiragana form is not present in any known orthography. In modern orthography, ''ye'' can also be written as いぇ (イェ in [[katakana]]).

{| class="wikitable"
!
!衣
!江
|-
|Hiragana
|え
|𛀁
|-
|Katakana
|𛀀
|エ
|}

While hiragana and katakana letters for "ye" were used for a short period after the advent of kana, the distinction between /ye/ and /e/ disappeared before glyphs could become established.

==== ''wu'' ====
{{see also|Wu (kana)}}
It has not been demonstrated whether the mora /wu/ existed in old Japanese. However, hiragana {{lang|ja-Latn|wu}} also appeared in different Meiji-era textbooks ([[File:Hiragana WU 2.svg|frameless|29x29px]]).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glyphwiki.org/wiki/hiragana-wu|title=Glyphwiki Hiraga Wu Reconstructed}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/862200|title=仮名遣|year=1891}}</ref> Although there are several possible source kanji, it is likely to have been derived from a cursive form of the {{lang|ja-Latn|man'yōgana}} {{lang|ja|汙}}, although a related variant sometimes listed ([[File:紆 kana.svg|frameless|29x29px]]) is from a cursive form of {{lang|ja|紆}}.<ref name="hirakanagenji">Iannacone, Jake (2020). [https://kobunworld.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-5.html "Reply to The Origin of Hiragana /wu/ 平仮名のわ行うの字源に対する新たな発見"]</ref> However, it was never commonly used.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hvitumavar.blog.se/japanese-original-50-kana-yi-ye-wu/|title=Japanese full 50 kana: yi, ye, wu}}</ref> This character is included in Unicode 14 as HIRAGANA LETTER ARCHAIC WU (𛄟).<ref name="Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana">{{cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2019/19381-missing-kana.pdf|title=Proposal to Encode Missing Japanese Kana|first=Abraham|last=Gross|date=2020-01-05}}</ref>