also: よし
noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
common reed; Phragmites australis
Refers to the plant species Phragmites australis, a tall perennial grass found in wetlands. Often written in kana (アシ or あし) in everyday use.
湖のほとりにはアシが生い茂っている。
Common reeds grow thickly along the lakeshore.
アシの茎で作った笛を吹いた。
I played a flute made from a reed stem.
Katakana spelling for the alternate reading, used similarly to アシ.
Simplified variant, often used in proper nouns.
Variant kanji form, also common in news contexts.
Uncommon variant kanji.
Alternate reading, often used in names and traditional contexts.
Katakana spelling, common in botanical or general contexts where kana is preferred.
The word is native Japanese. The kanji 葦 is a phono-semantic compound with 艹 (grass) and 韋 (phonetic, also suggesting a bending motion, as reeds sway). The alternate reading よし may be a shift from あし, possibly influenced by avoidance of homophony with 悪し (bad).