耶 (yē): (phonetic ye), interrogative particle (classical)

耶 (yē) is a Chinese character meaning “(phonetic ye).” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 耳 (semantic) and 阝 (phonetic). It ranks #830 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 耶 ear. Its radical form 耳 (ear) appears in many related characters such as 耳 (ěr, ear), 闻 (wén, to hear, to smell), 聪 (cōng, clever).

Spoken pronunciation

Radical: 耳 ear8 strokesFrequency #830耳 semantic 阝 phonetic

Definitions

(phonetic ye)
interrogative particle (classical)

Etymology & Origin

耶

pictophoneticear

Decomposition: ⿰耳阝 (layout: left-right)

Components:耳semantic 阝phonetic

Stroke Order

Practice writing 耶 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
耶稣proper-noun	yē sū	Jesus
耶鲁proper-noun	yē lǔ	Yale
耶路撒冷proper-noun	yē lù sā lěng	Jerusalem
耶酥	yē sū	variant of 耶穌\|耶稣
耶和华proper-noun	yē hé huá	Jehovah (biblical name for God, Hebrew: YHWH)
耶西proper-noun	yē xī	Jesse (son of Obed)
耶利米proper-noun	yē lì mǐ	Jeremy or Jeremiah (name)
耶利哥proper-noun	yē lì gē	Jericho (Biblical city)
耶烈万	yē liè wàn	Yerevan, capital of Armenia
耶稣教proper-noun	yē sū jiào	Protestantism
里维耶拉	lǐ wéi yē lā	riviera (loanword) (Tw)
耶哥尼雅	yē gē ní yǎ	Jechoniah or Jeconiah (son of Josiah)
耶和华见证人noun	yē hé huá jiàn zhèng rén	Jehovah's Witnesses
西耶那	xī yē nà	Fiat Siena
法耶德	fǎ yē dé	(name) Fayed

Total compounds

As first character

As last character

As middle character

耶 appears in 62 compound words: 55 as the first character, 11 as the last, and 34 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with 耶 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

撒sā

0.55310 co-occurrences

冷lěng

0.36610 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (6)

塞拉耶佛Sèlāyēfó

Sarajevo (the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina)

耶利米书Yēlìmǐshū

Jeremiah (book of the Bible)

耶路撒冷Yēlùsālěng

Jerusalem (the claimed (and de-facto) capital city of Israel; the claimed capital city of Palestine)

耶稣基督Yēsū Jīdū

Jesus Christ

Showing 4 of 6 idioms containing 耶.

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

耶字虽然难写，但意思很有趣。

yē zì suī rán nán xiě , dàn yì sī hěn yǒu qù .

Although the character "耶" is difficult to write, its meaning is quite interesting.

Orientaldaily MyMar 2026

耶稣道德比不上成吉思汗暴力? 内塔尼亚胡贬...

yē 稣 dào dé bǐ bù shàng chéng jí sī hàn bào lì ? nèi tǎ ní yà hú biǎn . . .

Is Jesus' morality inferior to Genghis Khan's violence? Netanyahu disparages...

中国新闻网_梳理天下新闻Mar 2026

音乐为“桥”促交流耶鲁大学Whiffenpoofs合唱团走进...

yīn lè wéi qiáo cù jiāo liú yē lǔ dà xué W h i f f e n p o o f s gě chàng tuán zǒu jìn . . .

Music as a "Bridge" for Exchange: Yale University's Whiffenpoofs Choir Visits...

三立新聞網Mar 2026

“真的不要闹耶!”长辈喊捏婴鼻子才会挺

zhēn de bù yāo nào yē ! cháng bèi hǎn niē yīng bí zǐ cái huì tǐng

“Seriously, stop messing around!” The older person shouted, pinching the baby’s nose to make it stick up.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

陈尚洁称无罪称剀剀“在耶稣那里没病痛”

chén shàng jié chèn wú zuì chèn 剀剀 zài yē 稣 nà lǐ méi bìng tòng

Chen Shangjie pleads not guilty, stating that Ke Ke “has no pain in the presence of Jesus”

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

社工陈尚洁喊话剀剀“在耶稣那里无病痛” 检察官:求处重刑

shè gōng chén shàng jié hǎn huà 剀剀 zài yē 稣 nà lǐ wú bìng tòng jiǎn chá guān : qiú chǔ chóng xíng

Social worker Chen Shangjie told Ke Ke, “There is no sickness or pain with Jesus.” Prosecutor: Seek a severe sentence.

Character Family

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 耶 (yē) mean in Chinese?

耶 (yē) primarily means "(phonetic ye)." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #830 in character frequency.

What's the difference between 耶 and 陀?

耶 (yē) and 陀 (tuó) are often confused. confusable. The key distinguishing feature: 耳 vs 阝 (same 阝 component).

How many strokes does 耶 have?

耶 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.

What is the radical of 耶?

The radical associated with 耶 is 耳 (ear). This radical appears in many characters related to ear.

What are the components of 耶?

耶 is composed of: 耳 (semantic), 阝 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿰耳阝 with a left-right layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.

What are common words containing 耶?

Common words with 耶 include: 耶稣 (yē sū, "Jesus"); 耶鲁 (yē lǔ, "Yale"); 耶路撒冷 (yē lù sā lěng, "Jerusalem"); 耶酥 (yē sū, "variant of 耶穌|耶稣"); 耶和华 (yē hé huá, "Jehovah (biblical name for God, Hebrew: YHWH)"). There are over 62 compound words containing this character.

What characters sound the same as 耶 (yē)?

Several characters share the pronunciation yē: 叶 (leaf), 页 (page). Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.

Is 耶 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?

Yes, 耶 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 耶 with real-time feedback

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