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'ゐ', in hiragana, or 'ヰ' in katakana, is an obsolete Japanese kana, each of which represent one mora. It is presumed that ゐ was pronounced as "wi" '' and that ゐ and い (i) were pronounced differently from each other until anywhere between the Kamakura period and the Taishō period. Although it is often transliterated as "wi", this kana was usually pronounced as "i" before it was deemed obsolete, and replaced with い and イ.
This kana was commonly used before World War II, but became obsolete in 1946, and is now rare in everyday usage. In fact, in onomatopoeia and foreign words, the katakana form ウィ (U-[small-i]) is preferred.
One modern-day usage of this kana is the Japanese spelling of Nikka Whiskey, which is written "ニッカウヰスキー" (nikka uwisukī). Also the comedy duo Yoiko, which is written "よゐこ" (yowiko).

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See also

See also

★ U (kana)

★ I (kana)