な

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Stroke order
な-bw.png
Character  な 
Unicode name HIRAGANA LETTER NA
Codepoint U+306A

Japanese

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /na/, [nä]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the 万葉仮名 (man'yōgana) kanji 奈 in the cursive 草書 (sōsho) style.

Syllable

な (Hepburn romanization na)

  1. The hiragana syllable な (na), whose equivalent in katakana is ナ (na). It is the twenty-first syllable of the gojūon order, and its position in gojūon tables is な行あ段 (NA-gyō, A-dan; “row NA, section A”).
Related terms
See also

Etymology 2

Probably derived from mild emphatic interjection and sentence-final particle ね, itself from Old Japanese, indicating a general sense of admiration or consideration, or hope that the preceding statement comes to pass.

Interjection

な (romaji na)

  1. (masculine, informal, mild emphatic) Used to get someone's attention. Carries generally neutral or slightly positive connotations.
    な、聞いたかい。
    な、きいたかい。
    Na, kiita kai?
    Hey, did you hear?

Particle

な (romaji na)

  1. (masculine, informal, mild emphatic) Indicates emotion or mild emphasis. Sentence-final.
    そうかな。
    Sō ka na.
    Huh, is that so.
Usage notes

Considered less formal than ね of essentially the same meaning.

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. Originally abbreviation of verb なる (naru, “to become”) used in an attributive role.

Particle

な (romaji na)

  1. The copula particle used after 形容動詞 (keiyōdōshi, “adjectival nouns”) to make them function as adjectives.
    変な人
    へんなひと
    Hen na hito
    a strange person
Usage notes

The full なる (naru) form is still used to impart a more formal, archaic, or poetic sense.

静かなる田舎
しずかなるいなか
shizuka naru inaka
the quiet countryside

Etymology 4

From Old Japanese. Probably the root na of the negative adjective ない (nai). An alternate theory is that this is the imperfective conjugation of negative auxiliary verb ず (zu).

Particle

な (romaji na)

  1. (masculine, informal, added after the dictionary form of a verb) Used to indicate prohibition: don't.
    行くな！
    いくな！
    Iku na!
    Don't go!
    ウィキペディアを引用するな。
    ウィキペディアをいんようするな。
    Wikipedia o in'yō suru na.
    Don't quote Wikipedia.
Usage notes

Considered very informal and potentially brusque depending on tone of voice. This would never be used in polite conversation, where the construction ～ないで下さい (~naide kudasai) would be used instead, appended to the imperfective stem of the verb in question. Examples:

そうするな。
Sō suru na.
Don't do that. -- addressing close friends, children, or possibly subordinates.
そうしないで下さい。
Sō shinaide kudasai.
(Please) Don't do that. -- addressing anyone else.

Etymology 5

Abbreviation of polite imperative auxiliary verb form なさい (nasai).

Particle

な (romaji na)

  1. (informal, added after the stem form of a verb) An imperative or command: do.
    あっちへ行きな、ぼうや。
    あっちへいきな、ぼうや。
    Acchi e ikina, bōya.
    Go over there, boy → Get out of the way, boy!
    座りなよ。
    すわりなよ。
    Suwarina yo.
    Sit → Have a seat.
Usage notes

A casual way of issuing commands. Not as rough as the imperative conjugation of a verb. Usage restricted to addressing friends, children, or subordinates.

食べな
たべな
tabena
eat!
Synonyms

Roughly in order of politeness:

Etymology 6

The hiragana rendering of various other words.

Noun

な (romaji na)

  1. 名: A name.
  2. 魚: Fish as a food, particularly as a side dish.
  3. 菜: Greens as a food, particularly as a side dish.
  4. 肴: A side dish, be it meat or fish or greens.
  5. 無: A lack of something.
  6. 儺: Driving away the gods of disease.

Number

な (romaji na)

  1. 七: Seven.

Pronoun

な (romaji na)

  1. 汝, 己: (obsolete) The first-person personal pronoun: I, me; the second-person personal pronoun: you.
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Last modified on 11 April 2013, at 04:09