夷

夷 (Kangxi radical 37, 大+3, 6 strokes, cangjie input 大弓 (KN) or 難大弓 (XKN), four-corner 5003₂, composition ⿻大弓)

• 𰃼, 姨, 咦, 胰, 蛦, 桋, 跠, 鮧, 侇, 峓, 恞, 痍, 洟, 羠, 鴺, 荑, 𢓡

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 249, character 15
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 5852
• Dae Jaweon: page 509, character 7
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 527, character 5
• Unihan data for U+5937

Wikipedia has an article on:

• 夷

Historical forms of the character 夷
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Originally ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) : 矢 (“arrow”) + (“rope”). Later forms ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意) : 大 (“person; big”) + 弓 (“bow”).

According to Yuè Juè Shū (越絕書), 夷 (OC *lil) is also the Yue word for "sea" (1). Therefore, Schuessler (2007) proposes an Austroasiatic origin; compare Proto-Mon-Khmer *d(n)liʔ (“large river, sea”) (whence Khmer ទន្លេ (tŭənlei, “large river”) and Kuy thlèː (“sea”)). Meanwhile, Schuessler associates similar Hmong forms like Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao tl̥e (“river”) (< Proto-Hmong-Mien *gle) to *溪 (OC *kʰeː) "creek, rivulet, rill" instead.

In contrast, Ferlus (2009) reconstructs 夷's Old Chinese pronunciation as and connects 夷 to Proto-Kra-Dai *k-ri: (“Kra-Dai endonym”) (whence Thai ไท (tai, “"Tai endonym"”) and Hlai Hlai (“"Hlai endonym"”)). However, Ferlus concedes that such a derivation of 夷 from *k-ri: "remains speculative, not as firmly established as for Hlai and Tai/Thai".

Meanwhile, Laurent Sagart (2008) instead suggested that the Yi languages were ancestral to Austronesian languages and formed a sister-group to Sino-Tibetan, probably related to Proto-Austronesian *i₃ (“personal article”).

夷

1. an ancient tribe in eastern China

   東夷／东夷  ―  dōngyí  ―  Eastern Barbarians

2. barbarian; foreigners; non-Han people

   師夷長技以制夷／师夷长技以制夷 [Classical Chinese]  ―  shī yí cháng jì yǐ zhì yí   ―  learn the Westerners' tricks so as to control them

3. to level; to raze

   夷為平地／夷为平地  ―  yíwèipíngdì  ―  to level to the ground

4. to eradicate; to obliterate

   夷三族 [Classical Chinese]  ―  yí sān zú   ―  to exterminate three clans (as a form of kin punishment)

5. flat; level; smooth; safe

   化險為夷／化险为夷  ―  huàxiǎnwèiyí  ―  to turn danger into safety

6. someone of the same generation
7. happy; joyous (Can we add an example for this sense?)
8. 23rd tetragram of the Taixuanjing; "ease" (𝌜)

夷

1. (Hokkien) Alternative form of 刣 (“to kill”)

• “夷”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

(Jinmeiyō kanji)

1. ancient tribes in eastern China
2. level (flat and low)
3. levelled destruction

• Go-on: い (i)
• Kan-on: い (i)
• Kun: えびす (ebisu, 夷)、ころす (korosu, 夷す)、たいらげる (tairageru, 夷らげる)^{←たひらげる (tafirageru, 夷らげる, historical)}
• Nanori: ひな (hina)、ひら (hira)

⟨emi₁si⟩ → */emʲisɨ/ → /emisə/ → /ebisu/

Shift from Old Japanese 蝦夷 (Emishi), modern Ezo.

• 戎

• (Tokyo) えびす (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

夷(えびす) • (ebisu) 

1. (historical) Synonym of 蝦夷 (Ezo): an ancient ethnic group attested in the Nihon Shoki that once lived on what is now the Kantō, Hokuriku and Tōhoku regions, likely as far as Hokkaido, possibly related to the Ainu people; dubbed "barbarians" or "savages" by the Yamato.
2. a person living far away from the 都 (miyako, “capital”), loosely translated to "bumpkin" or "hick"

   Synonym: 田舎者 (inakamono)

3. (regional, derogatory) a barbarian, savage, especially referring to the 東夷 (azuma-ebisu, “warrior from the eastern parts of Japan”)
   • 1204, Akishino Gesseishū (book 1, poem 223)

     わがおもふ人(ひと)だにすまばみちのくのえびすの里(さと)もうときものかは

     waga omou hito dani sumaba Michinoku no ebisu no sato utoki mono ka wa

     (please add an English translation of this example)

4. (by extension, derogatory) a foreigner

• 東(あずま)夷(えびす) (azuma-ebisu)

夷(えびす) • (Ebisu) 

1. a surname
2. alternative spelling of 恵比須 (Ebisu), a Shinto god

/ji/ → /i/

From Middle Chinese 夷 (MC yij), originally referred to one of the ancient tribes east of China.

• (Tokyo) い (Atamadaka – )^[1]
• IPA^(key):

夷(い) • (i) 

1. those people with differing languages and/or cultures

   Synonym: 異民族 (iminzoku)

2. a barbarian, savage; uncivilized people (living to the east of ancient Imperial China; included Japan)

   Synonym: 野蛮人 (yabanjin)

3. a neutral (position)

   Synonym: 無色 (mushoku)

• 征(せい)夷(い) (seii)

• 夷(い)を以(もっ)て夷(い)を制(せい)す (i o motte i o seisu)

From Middle Chinese 夷 (MC yij). Recorded as Middle Korean 이 (i) (Yale: i) in Hunmong Jahoe (訓蒙字會 / 훈몽자회), 1527.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

夷

Wikisource

夷 (eumhun 오랑캐 이 (orangkae i))
夷 (eumhun 평평할 이 (pyeongpyeonghal i))

1. hanja form^? of 이 (“barbarian”)
2. hanja form^? of 이 (“flat; level; smooth”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

夷: Hán Nôm readings: dì, dai, di, gì, rợ

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