reed, bullrush
葦 centers on tall, slender water plants: reeds and bullrushes. The meaning is straightforward and concrete, referring to these specific wetland plants.
葦 combines the grass radical 艹 with 韋, which likely provides the sound. The character represents a type of plant, specifically reeds or bullrushes.
The grass radical 艹 sits above 韋, like tall reeds growing out of a woven basket or mat (韋 can suggest leather or tanned hide, but here imagine a woven container). Picture a clump of reeds sprouting from a basket left by the water.
For イ, imagine an eagle (イーグル) landing on a reed: the 'e' sound of eagle cues イ, and the reed bends under its weight.
common reed (Phragmites australis)
reed bed
Eurasian reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
one reed
narrow strip of water
gadwall (Anas strepera)
great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)
black-browed reed warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps)
dapple gray (horse coat color); dapple grey
withered reeds (esp. reeds that have withered in the winter)
flea-bitten gray (horse coat color); flea-bitten grey
to have a narrow view of things; to look at the ceiling through a reed
to have a narrow view of things; to peek at the ceiling through the pith of a reed
yellow bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis)
Japan
reed warbler (esp. the great reed warbler, but also the black-browed reed warbler)
ashide; painting of a waterside using characters of a poem to represent reeds, rocks, birds, etc. (Heian period)
crane (bird)
freshwater goby (any fish of genus Rhinogobius)
reed pipe; reed flute