Laurent Sagart
Historical linguists have tentatively reconstructed "yí" 夷's ancient pronunciations and etymology. The Modern Standard Chinese pronunciation "yí" descends from (c. 6th–9th centuries CE) Middle Chinese and (c. 6th–3rd centuries BCE) Old Chinese. Middle and Old Chinese reconstructions of "yí" 夷 "barbarian; spread out" include "i" &lt; *"djər", "yij" &lt; *"ljɨj", "jiɪ" &lt; *"lil", and "ji" &lt; *"ləi". As to the most recent reconstruction, William H. Baxter and Laurent Sagart (2014) reconstruct the Old Chinese name of "yí" 夷 as *"ləj".