Is 伊 a part of a word?


I would like to know because this Kanji is part of my name.




Basically, every kanji has one or more meanings, and one or more readings. For
example, the kanji 麗 has meanings ("beautiful; graceful") and readings ( _rei_
; _uruwa-shii_ ), and it can appear in many words such as
[綺麗](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%A5%87%E9%BA%97),
[華麗](http://jisho.org/word/%E8%8F%AF%E9%BA%97),
[美辞麗句](http://jisho.org/word/%E7%BE%8E%E8%BE%9E%E9%BA%97%E5%8F%A5).

However 伊 is a bit special; Japanese people have almost forgotten the original
meaning of this kanji. In Chinese 伊 seems to have a meaning ("he; she; that"),
but Japanese people never use this kanji in this sense. In Japan, 伊 is now
recognized as a kanji which just has a reading い ( _i_ ) and appears in proper
nouns (names of people, place, etc).

Some common proper nouns that has 伊 are:

  * 伊藤 "Itoh" (common Japanese family name)
  * 伊賀 "Iga" (a place name famous as a home of ninja)
  * 伊太利亜 "Italy" ([an ateji country name](https://deadreckoning8.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/whats-your-countrys-name-in-traditional-japanese-ateji/))

The only "normal" word that has 伊 is probably
[伊達](http://jisho.org/word/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94), which means "just for show".
It's a common family name (e.g., [Kimiko
Date](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimiko_Date-Krumm)), but has gained a
special meaning for historical reasons.

伊 is also used on newspapers as a single-character abbreviation for Italy.
This is not the traditional meaning of 伊, but still one can say the primary
"meaning" of 伊 is "Italy".




Basically, every kanji has one or more meanings, and one or more readings. For
example, the kanji 麗 has meanings ("beautiful; graceful") and readings ( _rei_
; _uruwa-shii_ ), and it can appear in many words such as
[綺麗](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%A5%87%E9%BA%97),
[華麗](http://jisho.org/word/%E8%8F%AF%E9%BA%97),
[美辞麗句](http://jisho.org/word/%E7%BE%8E%E8%BE%9E%E9%BA%97%E5%8F%A5).

However 伊 is a bit special; Japanese people have almost forgotten the original
meaning of this kanji. In Chinese 伊 seems to have a meaning ("he; she; that"),
but Japanese people never use this kanji in this sense. In Japan, 伊 is now
recognized as a kanji which just has a reading い ( _i_ ) and appears in proper
nouns (names of people, place, etc).

Some common proper nouns that has 伊 are:

  * 伊藤 "Itoh" (common Japanese family name)
  * 伊賀 "Iga" (a place name famous as a home of ninja)
  * 伊太利亜 "Italy" ([an ateji country name](https://deadreckoning8.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/whats-your-countrys-name-in-traditional-japanese-ateji/))

The only "normal" word that has 伊 is probably
[伊達](http://jisho.org/word/%E4%BC%8A%E9%81%94), which means "just for show".
It's a common family name (e.g., [Kimiko
Date](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimiko_Date-Krumm)), but has gained a
special meaning for historical reasons.

伊 is also used on newspapers as a single-character abbreviation for Italy.
This is not the traditional meaning of 伊, but still one can say the primary
"meaning" of 伊 is "Italy".

