也
surname Ye; also; too; as well; (not ...) either; (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X); (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a5]
Closest English meanings
also·too·as well
The Calligrapher — Wáng Xiànzhī 王献之
Son of Wang Xizhi and pioneer of wild cursive who pushed brush freedom further.
Eastern Jin calligrapher (344–386), master of running script/cursive script — seventh son of Wang Xizhi who broke his father's rules for a more fluent, emotional running script; together they are 'the Two Wangs'. Eastern Jin dynasty
Cultural Story
也 is the sentence-final particle that gave classical statements their settled close, the indeed at the end of a clause. The 論語 uses it to seal a truth, 不朽也. Originally it may have marked a pause or an expansion. It is the period with a breath, the sound of a thought laid down and not taken back, the grammatical calm of the mastered line.
Common words & phrases
- 也许 perhaps · maybe
- 也罢 let it be · whatever
- 也是 also is · too
- 也好 may as well · also good
- 也门 Yemen
Read the story behind the character
也许 is the hedge in every forecast; 也是 the agreement, 我也是. 也罢 is the sigh of giving up; 也好 the shrug of consent. 也门 is Yemen, the one proper noun that wandered in. The particle sense is gone from speech, but the character lives in these compounds, the register of possibility and resignation, the maybe, the me-too, the let it be.
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