ни

See also: ні, ни-, and Appendix:Variations of "ni"

Bulgarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Etymology 1

Pronoun

ни • (ni) (personal, possessive)

1. short form of the first-person plural pronoun in the accusative case, used as the direct object of a verb; us

   Не мисля, че ни видяха да идваме.

   Ne mislja, če ni vidjaha da idvame.

   I don't think they saw us come.

2. short form of the first-person plural pronoun in the dative case, used as the indirect object of a verb; to us, for us, us

   Бихте ли ни казали в колко часа каца самолетът?

   Bihte li ni kazali v kolko časa kaca samoletǎt?

   Could you tell us at what time the plane lands?

3. short form of the first-person plural possessive pronoun; our

   Първата ни спирка е Париж.

   Pǎrvata ni spirka e Pariž.

   Our first stop is Paris.

Related terms

Bulgarian personal pronouns

			nominative (subject)	accusative (direct complement)		dative (indirect complement)		prepositional
				full	short	full	short
singular	first person		аз (az)	мен (men) ме́не (méne)	ме (me)	ме́не (méne)	ми (mi)	мен (men) ме́не (méne)
	second person	informal	ти (ti)	теб (teb) те́бе (tébe)	те (te)	те́бе (tébe)	ти (ti)	теб (teb) те́бе (tébe)
		formal	Ви́е (Víe)	Вас (Vas)	Ви (Vi)	Вам (Vam)	Ви (Vi)	Вас (Vas)
	third person	masculine	той (toj)	не́го (négo)	го (go)	не́му (nému)	му (mu)	не́го (négo)
		feminine	тя (tja)	не́я (néja)	я (ja)	ней (nej)	ѝ (ì)	не́я (néja)
		neuter	то (to)	не́го (négo)	го (go)	не́му (nému)	му (mu)	не́го (négo)
plural	first person		ни́е (níe) ний (nij)	нас (nas)	ни (ni)	нам (nam)	ни (ni)	нас (nas)
	second person	informal	ви́е (víe) вий (vij)	вас (vas)	ви (vi)	вам (vam)	ви (vi)	вас (vas)
		formal	Ви́е (Víe)	Вас (Vas)	Ви (Vi)	Вам (Vam)	Ви (Vi)	Вас (Vas)
	third person		те (te)	тях (tjah)	ги (gi)	тям (tjam)	им (im)	тях (tjah)

Bulgarian possessive pronouns

possessor		singular	plural
first person (my, our)		мой (moj)	наш (naš)
second person (your)	informal	твой (tvoj)	ваш (vaš)
	formal	Ваш (Vaš)
third person (his, her, its, their)	masculine	не́гов (négov)	те́хен (téhen)
	feminine	не́ин (néin)
	neuter	не́гов (négov)
reflexive		свой (svoj)

This table presents the masculine singular indefinite (lemma) forms only. Visit the individual entries to study all forms.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *ni.

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. used for emphasis to mean 'no thing or person'; not a, not one

   Synonym: ни́то (níto)

   Не обели ни дума.

   Ne obeli ni duma.

   He didn't say a single word.

   Ни един от хората, които бях поканил, не дойде.

   Ni edin ot horata, koito bjah pokanil, ne dojde.

   Not one of the people I'd invited showed up.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. used to show that a negative statement is true of two things; neither, nor

   Synonym: ни́то (níto)

   Това е ни в клин, ни в ръкав.

   Tova e ni v klin, ni v rǎkav.

   That is neither here nor there.

   Тя ни знае, ни се интересува какво се е случило.

   Tja ni znae, ni se interesuva kakvo se e slučilo.

   She neither knows nor cares what happened.

Anagrams

• ин- (in-), ин (in)

Dungan

Etymology

Cognate to Standard Mandarin 你 (nǐ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni⁵¹/

Adjective

ни • (ni) (II)

1. you

Erzya

Etymology

From Proto-Mordvinic *ńij, inherited from Proto-Uralic *niŋä (“woman, female”). Cognates include Northern Sami njiŋŋalâs, Lule Sami niŋŋēlis, Hungarian nő, Tundra Nenets не (nye).

Noun

ни • (ni)

1. wife

   од ни ― od ni ― a young wife

   • 1865, Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, Das Evangelium des Matthäus ersamordwinisch, page 68:

     Ki javovi es ninze martonzo avoľ lia marto pežeteń kis i uŕvaksty ombotse langso, te pežet teji martonzo.

     Anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.

Declension

Indefinite declension of ни (front-vowel stem (ки) type)

case	singular	plural
nominative (...)	ни (ni)	нить (niť)
genitive (of ...)	нинь (niń)	—
dative (to ...)	нинень (nineń)	—
ablative (than ...)	ниде (nide)	—
inessive (in ...)	нисэ (nisë)	—
elative (out of ...)	нистэ (nistë)	—
illative (into ...)	нис (nis)	—
prolative (through ...)	нива (niva)	—
translative (becoming ...)	никс (niks)	—
comparative (like ...)	нишка (niška)	—
abessive (without ...)	нивтеме (nivteme)	—

References

• B. A. Serebrennikov, R. N. Buzakova, M. V. Mosin (1993) “ни”, in Эрзянь-рузонь валкс [Erzya-Russian dictionary], Moscow: Русский язык, →ISBN
• Entry #598 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.

Lezgi

Etymology

Akin to Archi ди (di).

Noun

ни • (ni)

1. a smell

Macedonian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. neither

   Synonym: ниту (nitu)

   Нема ни жена ни деца.

   Nema ni žena ni deca.

   He has neither a wife nor children.

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. not even

   Ни мајката не те сака.

   Ni majkata ne te saka.

   Not even your mother loves you.

   Не сакаше ни да се обиде.

   Ne sakaše ni da se obide.

   He didn't even want to try.

2. neither, either

   Ни јас не сакам да дојдам.

   Ni jas ne sakam da dojdam.

   I don't want to come either.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Pronoun

ни • (ni)

1. Short indirect object form of ние (nie).

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Noun

ни • (ni) n

1. nu (Greek letter)

Nivkh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɲi/

Pronoun

ни (ņi)

1. I

Old Church Slavonic

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ni (“nor, not”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nei, from Proto-Indo-European *nei.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. not

Related terms

• не (ne)

Old East Slavic

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ni. Cognates include Old Church Slavonic ни (ni).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/→/nʲi/→/nʲi/

• (ca. 9^th CE) IPA^(key): /ni/
• (ca. 11^th CE) IPA^(key): /nʲi/
• (ca. 13^th CE) IPA^(key): /nʲi/

• Hyphenation: ни

Conjunction

ни (ni)

1. nor, neither
   • 1076, Sviatoslav's izbornik‎^[1], page 3:

     ни правьдникъ [съставить сѧ] бес почитаниꙗ книжьнааго

     ni pravĭdnikŭ [sŭstavitĭ sę] bes počitanija knižĭnaago

     nor [can] a righteous person [be built] without a reading of the books

Descendants

• Old Ruthenian: ни (ni)
  • Belarusian: ні (ni)
  • Carpathian Rusyn: ни (ny)
  • Ukrainian: ні (ni)
• Russian: ни (ni)

References

• Sreznevsky, Izmail I. (1902) “ни”, in Матеріалы для Словаря древне-русскаго языка по письменнымъ памятникамъ [Materials for the Dictionary of the Old East Slavic Language Based on Written Monuments]‎^[2] (in Russian), volume 2 (Л – П), Saint Petersburg: Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, column 443

Russian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nʲɪ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: не (ne) (when unstressed)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old East Slavic ни (ni), from Proto-Slavic *ni.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. neither, nor

   ни он, ни она́ ― ni on, ni oná ― neither he nor she

   ни ку́шает, ни спит ― ni kúšajet, ni spit ― neither eats nor sleeps

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. not a

   ни оди́н из ста ― ni odín iz sta ― not one in a hundred

2. (between a personal pronoun and the verb in the affirmative) whatever, however

   что он ни ска́жет ― što on ni skážet ― whatever he says

   как бы он ни был бога́т ― kak by on ni byl bogát ― however rich he may be

3. (before какой, кто, что) any, no

   ни в како́й кни́ге ― ni v kakój kníge ― (not) in any book, in no book

   ни на что не годи́тся ― ni na što ne godítsja ― it’s good for nothing

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Greek νι (ni).

Noun

ни • (ni) n inan (indeclinable)

1. nu (the modern Greek letter Ν/ν)

   Synonym: (ancient or modern Greek) ню (nju)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni (“nor, not”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nej, from Proto-Indo-European *ney. Compare ни-, не.

Particle

ни (Latin spelling ni)

1. (emphasizes negation) even, either

   ни ја то не знам ― even I don't know that; I don't know that either

   нисам хт(ј)ео ни да чујем за пр(иј)едлог ― I didn't even want to listen about the proposal

Conjunction

ни (Latin spelling ni)

1. neither, nor

   она није ни паметна ни(ти) марљива ― she is neither smart nor industrious

   ни трага ни гласа о .. ― not a trace about ..

   ни крив ни дужан ― completely innocent

Tundra Nenets

Etymology 1

From Proto-Samoyedic *niə.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nʲi]
• Hyphenation: ни

Noun

ни • (nyi)

1. belt

Declension

Declension of ни (nyi) (regular)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	ни (nyi)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ниˮ (nyiq)
genitive	ниʼ (nyih)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ниˮ (nyiq)
accusative	ним (nyim°)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ни (nyi)
allative	нин (nyin°)	нихиняʼ (nyixyinyah)	нихиˮ (nyixyiq)
locative	нихина (nyixyina)	нихиняна (nyixyinyana)	нихиˮна (nyixyiqna)
ablative	нихид (nyixyid°)	нихиняд (nyixyinyad°)	нихит (nyixyit°)
prolative	нивна (nyiwna)	нихинямна (nyixyinyamna)	ниˮмӑна (nyiqmăna)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Samoyedic *ńëj, from Proto-Uralic *ńële.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nʲi]
• Hyphenation: ни

Noun

ни • (nyi)

1. (in compounds) arrow

Declension

Declension of ни (nyi) (regular)

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	ни (nyi)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ниˮ (nyiq)
genitive	ниʼ (nyih)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ниˮ (nyiq)
accusative	ним (nyim°)	нихиʼ (nyixyih)	ни (nyi)
allative	нин (nyin°)	нихиняʼ (nyixyinyah)	нихиˮ (nyixyiq)
locative	нихина (nyixyina)	нихиняна (nyixyinyana)	нихиˮна (nyixyiqna)
ablative	нихид (nyixyid°)	нихиняд (nyixyinyad°)	нихит (nyixyit°)
prolative	нивна (nyiwna)	нихинямна (nyixyinyamna)	ниˮмӑна (nyiqmăna)

Derived terms

• туни (tunyi)

References

• Pyrerka, A. P., Tereščenko, N. M. (1948) Русско-ненецкий словарь [Russian–Nenets Dictionary], Moscow: Огиз, page 213
• N. M. Tereschenko (2005) “ни”, in Словарь ненецко-русский и русско-ненецкий, 3rd edition, Saint Petersburg: Просвещение, →ISBN