An archaic or dialectal spelling of 'hi,' used as a greeting.
This appears to be a variant or non-standard spelling of 'hi,' which itself likely came from the earlier 'hie' (to go quickly) or possibly from 'hello.' The spelling variation reflects regional dialects or historical phonetic notation.
Different dialects and time periods spelled greetings completely differently—'hye,' 'hi,' 'hail,' 'ho'—showing that how we greet each other is incredibly fluid and changes dramatically depending on where and when you grew up.
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