ni
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (GA) (file)
Noun edit
ni
See also edit
Anagrams edit
Abinomn edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- you (singular)
Afar edit
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
ní
- our
- Saytun Qhuraan kee kay maqnah tarjamaty Qafar afal tani [The clear Qur'an and its explanation translated into the Afar language][2], Suurat Al-Faatica, verse 5:
- Diggah nanu Ni Rabbow koo inkittosnaah Qibaada dibuk koo caglisna, nanu ni-caagiidah inkih cato koo esserra.
- Our God, with strength we make you whole, only you we give [our] adoration, we as one ask you for help with our afairs.
See also edit
References edit
- E. M. Parker; R. J. Hayward (1985), “ni”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN
- Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)[3], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)
Ainu edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ni (Kana spelling ニ)
Synonyms edit
Albanian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Albanian *nū, from Proto-Indo-European *nū (“now”). Cognate to Sanskrit नू (nū, “now”).[1] Often occurs in coordination with other particles, compare tani, nani, nime.
Adverb edit
ni
Related terms edit
References edit
- ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (2000) A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian[1], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 206
Anguthimri edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 187
Aromanian edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Vulgar Latin nīs, from Latin nos. Compare Romanian ne (older form nă).
Pronoun edit
ni (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)
- (direct object, first-person plural) us
Related terms edit
- noi (stressed accusative)
Pronoun edit
ni (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)
- (indirect object, first-person plural) (to) us
Related terms edit
- nau (stressed dative)
See also edit
Asturian edit
Noun edit
ni f (uncountable)
- nu (name for the letter of the Greek alphabet: Ν and ν)
Atong (India) edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Bodo-Garo *nɯi⁴ (“two”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s (“two”). Cognate with S'gaw Karen ခံ (khee), Tibetan གཉིས (gnyis), Sikkimese ཉི (nyi), Nuosu ꑍ (nyip), Burmese နှစ် (hnac).
Pronunciation edit
Numeral edit
ni (Bengali script নি)
Synonyms edit
References edit
- van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.
Bambara edit
Etymology 1 edit
Noun edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
Conjunction edit
ni
References edit
- Richard Nci Diarra, Lexique bambara-français-anglais, December 13, 2010
Basque edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Basque *ni.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- First-person singular personal pronoun; I
Declension edit
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
Biloxi edit
Noun edit
ni
- Synonym of ani (“water”)
References edit
- David Kaufman, Tanêks-Tąyosą Kadakathi: Biloxi-English Dictionary (University of Kansas, 2011, →ISBN, page 34
Breton edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Brythonic *ni, from Proto-Celtic *snīs.
Pronoun edit
ni
- we (first-person plural personal pronoun)
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-Brythonic *nei, from Proto-Celtic *neɸūss, from Proto-Indo-European *népōts.
Noun edit
ni m (plural nied)
Catalan edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Conjunction edit
ni
Adverb edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
ni f (plural nis)
Danish edit
< 8 | 9 | 10 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : ni Ordinal : niende | ||
Etymology edit
From Old Norse níu, from Proto-Germanic *newun, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”).
Pronunciation edit
Numeral edit
ni
Drung edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj.
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Ross Perlin (2019) A Grammar of Trung[4], Santa Barbara: University of California
Dumbea edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
References edit
- Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "ⁿDuᵐbea" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
- Shintani, T.L.A. & Païta, Y. (1990) Dictionnaire de la langue de Païta, Nouméa: Sociéte d'etudes historiques de Nouvelle-Calédonie. Cited in: "Drubea" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl edit
Determiner edit
ni
- this.
Pronoun edit
ni
- this.
Esperanto edit
Etymology edit
From Italian noi, French nous, Spanish nos, Latin nos, plus the i of personal pronouns.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
French edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French ny, from Old French ne, from Latin nec. Compare Italian né, Catalan and Spanish ni, Portuguese nem.
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ni
- neither; nor
- 1898, Revue du monde invisible, page 339:
- Notre imagination, si ardente qu’on la suppose, ne peut ni guérir instantanément une lésion organique, ni ressusciter un mort.
- Our imagination, so ardent as we suppose, can neither instantaneously heal an organic lesion, nor resuscitate the dead.
- 1876, Bulletins et mémoires de la Société médicale des hôpitaux de Paris, Volume 12:
- […] les constitutions accidentelles ou intercurrentes ne sont ni moins importantes ni plus faciles à expliquer.
- […] accidental or intercurrent constitutions are neither less important nor easier to explain.
- c. 1656–1662, Blaise Pascal, “Preuves par discours I – Papier original : RO 3-1 r° / v° et RO 7-1 r° / v°”, in Pensées [Thoughts][5]:
- Mais nous ne connaissons ni l’existence ni la nature de Dieu, parce qu’il n’a ni étendue, ni bornes.
- But we know neither the existence nor the nature of God, because He has neither extent nor limits.
Usage notes edit
- Used with the negative particle ne.
- Chiefly used at least twice in the same sentence the same way neither and nor would be used in an English sentence, such as ni riche, ni pauvre (“neither rich nor poor”).
Derived terms edit
See also edit
Further reading edit
- “ni”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Gothic edit
Romanization edit
ni
- Romanization of 𐌽𐌹
Hausa edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Chadic, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ˀanāku.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
nī
- I (1st person singular pronoun)
See also edit
Hungarian edit
Etymology edit
Native word of debated origin:[1]
- Shortened from nézd (“look!”) ~ nízd (a dialectal variant).
- An onomatopoeia expressing astonishment.
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
ni
- (colloquial) lo!, look!
- Itt van ni! ― Look! Here it is!
Usage notes edit
Most of the time it is used in its duplicated form: nini!
References edit
- ^ ni in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
Further reading edit
- ni in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Idi edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
Ido edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- (personal) we (first-person plural personal pronoun)
Ingrian edit
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ni
- Alternative form of niin
- 1937, V. A. Tetjurev, translated by N. I. Molotsova, Loonnontiito (ensimäin osa): oppikirja alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart, Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 6:
- Jot saavva tiitä mitä ono pintamaas, ni pittää tehä mokomat oopьtat.
- In order to get to know what is in the topsoil, (that's why) it's important to perform such experiments.
References edit
- Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 340
Interlingua edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From French and Spanish ni, from Latin nec (“and not”).
Adverb edit
ni
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Adverb edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
ni m or f (invariable)
- nu (Greek letter)
Anagrams edit
Japanese edit
Romanization edit
ni
Kamano edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- The Papuan Languages of New Guinea (1986, →ISBN
Kansa edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (“water”).
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Kansa dictionary
- Quapaw dictionary, in notes: "ni (ni) - water, river, liquid (Kanza)"
Kedah Malay edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- you (singular)
Klao edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- World Lexicon of Grammaticalization (2002, →ISBN
Laboya edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Allahverdi Verdizade (2019), “ni”, in Lamboya word list, Leiden: LexiRumah
Latin edit
Etymology edit
From Old Latin nei, from Proto-Indo-European *néy (“not”), from *ne. Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌹 (nei), Lithuanian nei, Old Church Slavonic ни (ni), Old Irish ní and Sanskrit न (ná). See also nē.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
nī (not comparable)
Derived terms edit
Conjunction edit
nī
- not, that not, unless; like ne in imperative and intentional clauses
- Ni quid tibi hinc in spem referas. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- Vinum aliudve quid ni laudato. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- Numa constituit, ut pisces, qui squamosi non essent, ni pollucerent ... ni qui ad polluctum emerent. ― Numa ordained scaleless fish not to be served nor bought for serving.
Ligurian edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Conjunction edit
ni
Livonian edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Finnic *nügüt. Cognates include Finnish nyt.
Adverb edit
ni
Luxembourgish edit
Etymology edit
From Middle High German nie, from Old High German nio. Cognate with German nie.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
ni
Synonyms edit
Malay edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Shortened form of ini, from Proto-Malayic *(i)ni(ʔ), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *(i-)ni, from Proto-Austronesian *(i-)ni.
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
ni
- (colloquial) this (the (thing) here)
- (colloquial) this (known (thing) just mentioned)
- (colloquial) this (known (thing) about to be mentioned)
- (colloquial) this (known (thing) that the speaker does not think is known to the audience)
Pronoun edit
ni
- (colloquial) this (The thing, item, etc. being indicated)
Mandarin edit
Romanization edit
ni
- Nonstandard spelling of nī.
- Nonstandard spelling of ní.
- Nonstandard spelling of nǐ.
- Nonstandard spelling of nì.
Usage notes edit
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Marshallese edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Micronesian *niu, from Proto-Oceanic *niuʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ni
- coconut tree
Related terms edit
- iu (coconut)
References edit
Middle English edit
Adverb edit
ni
- Alternative form of ne
Conjunction edit
ni
- Alternative form of ne
Middle Irish edit
Particle edit
ni
- Alternative spelling of ní
Mohegan-Pequot edit
Pronoun edit
ni (first person singular)
- singular first-person pronoun I
edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- second person singular pronoun you
- Shí dóó ni ayóo ałk’is niidlį́.
- You and I are really good friends.
- second person singular possessive pronoun yours
- Díí naaltsoos éí ni.
- This book is yours.
Usage notes edit
The verb in Navajo incorporates information about person, and many sentences may thus not have explicit independent pronouns. For instance:
- Hooghandi naniná.
- Ni éí hooghandi naniná.
Both sentences are grammatically complete, and mean essentially the same thing: you are at home. The verb naniná is in the second-person form, so the pronoun can be safely omitted, as in the first sentence. This is similar to pronoun dropping in other languages where the verb specifies person, such as Spanish. Meanwhile, the explicit use of ni in the second sentence emphasizes that the speaker is talking about you. This can be thought of as roughly equivalent to the use of emphasis in English: while the first sentence comes across as you're at home, the second one is more like you, you're at home.
See also edit
Naxi edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋja.
Noun edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s.
Numeral edit
ni
References edit
- Naxi Dictionary by T.M. Pinson, Lijiang 2012
Ningil edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66 : /niː/
- Margaret Manning, Naomi Saggers, A Tentative Phonemic Analysis of Ningil (SIL), in Phonologies of five Austronesian languages (Richard Loving, John M. Clifton; 1975) : /ni/
Norwegian Bokmål edit
< 8 | 9 | 10 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : ni Ordinal : niende | ||
Etymology edit
From Old Norse níu (whence also Danish ni, Icelandic níu, Faroese níggju and Swedish nio) from Proto-Germanic *newun, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥. Cognate with Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun); Old English niġon (English nine); Old Frisian nigun (West Frisian njoggen); Old High German niun (German neun).
Pronunciation edit
Numeral edit
ni
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
References edit
- “ni” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
< 8 | 9 | 10 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : ni Ordinal : niande | ||
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Numeral edit
ni
Derived terms edit
References edit
- “ni” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Nutabe edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Paul Rivet, Nouvelle contribution à l’étude de l’ethnologie précolombienne de Colombie, Journal de la Société des Américanistes volume 35, pages 25-39 (1943), page 26
Old High German edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *ne.
Pronunciation edit
Particle edit
ni
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Old Irish edit
Particle edit
ni
- Alternative spelling of ní
Omaha-Ponca edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (“water”).
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Francis La Flesche, The Omaha Tribe (1970), page 166
Phalura edit
Etymology 1 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)
- this (agr: prox fem / prox non-nom masc)
References edit
- Liljegren, Henrik; Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[6], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Etymology 2 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)
- these (agr: prox)
References edit
- Liljegren, Henrik; Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[7], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Etymology 3 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)
- it
- she (prox fem nom)
References edit
- Liljegren, Henrik; Haider, Naseem (2011) Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)[8], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN
Etymology 4 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)
- they (prox nom)
References edit
Polish edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni.
Conjunction edit
ni
Derived terms edit
Particle edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
ni n (indeclinable)
- Alternative form of ny
Further reading edit
Portuguese edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek νῦ (nû).
Pronunciation edit
- Hyphenation: ni
Noun edit
ni m (plural nis)
- nu (the thirteenth letter of the Greek alphabet)
Proto-Norse edit
Romanization edit
ni
- Romanization of ᚾᛁ
Rawang edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Alternative forms edit
Verb edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
Alternative forms edit
Noun edit
ni
Etymology 3 edit
From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj. Cognate with Burmese နေ (ne) and နေ့ (ne.), Old Chinese 日 (*njiɡ).
Noun edit
ni
- day (24 hour).
See also edit
- yáng (“daytime”)
Romanian edit
Etymology 1 edit
Inherited from Latin.
Pronoun edit
ni
Usage notes edit
This form is used when ne (which is dative) is combined with the following accusatives:
- îl (the accusative of el, contracted as ni-l)
- îi (the accusative of ei, contracted as ni-i)
- le (the accusative of ele)
- se (the reflexive accusative of all third-person pronouns)
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Interjection edit
ni
- (Transylvania) lo!, look!, behold!
- Ni la el! ― Look at him!
Samoan edit
Article edit
ni
- some (plural indefinite article)
Serbo-Croatian edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Slavic *ni (“nor, not”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nej, from Proto-Indo-European *ney. Compare ni-, ne.
Particle edit
ni (Cyrillic spelling ни)
- (emphasizes negation) even, either
- ni ja to ne znam — even I don't know that; I don't know that either
- Nisam ni htio čuti njegov prijedlog.
- I didn't even want to hear his proposal.
Conjunction edit
ni (Cyrillic spelling ни)
- (shortening of niti) neither, nor
- ona nije ni pametna ni(ti) marljiva — she is neither smart nor industrious
- ni traga ni glasa o .. — not a trace about ..
- ni kriv ni dužan — completely innocent (lit. neither guilty nor indebted)
Sicilian edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
Inflection edit
nominative | nuàutri |
---|---|
prepositional | nuàutri |
accusative | ni |
dative | ni |
reflexive | ni |
possessive | nostru |
See also edit
Slovene edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ní
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old Spanish nin, from Latin nec, apocopated form of neque, from Proto-Indo-European *nekʷe (“and not, neither, nor”), from *ne (“not”) + *-kʷe (“and”). Compare Asturian and Galician nin, Catalan and French ni, Portuguese nem, Italian né, Dalmatian ne. Indo-European cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih) and Irish nach.
Conjunction edit
ni
- (coordinating) neither... nor
- Antonym: o ... o
- No tengo ni dinero ni tiempo.
- I have neither money nor time.
- nor, or
- No descansa de día ni de noche.
- He doesn't rest during the day nor during the night.
Derived terms edit
- ni chicha ni limonada
- ni come, ni deja comer
- ni corto ni perezoso
- ni fu ni fa
- ni grado ni gracias
- ni idea
- ni ir ni venir
- ni lerdo ni perezoso
- ni más ni menos
- ni olvido, ni perdón
- ni pena ni gloria
- ni rey ni roque
- ni tanto ni tan calvo
- ni va ni viene
- ni visto ni oído
- sin chistar ni mistar
- sin oficio ni beneficio
- sin pena ni gloria
- sin pies ni cabeza
- sin tripas ni cuajar
Adverb edit
ni
- not even
- No descansaba ni por un minuto
- I didn't rest even for a minute.
- Ni yo sé qué significa esta palabra.
- Not even I know what this word means.
Derived terms edit
- ni a balazos
- ni a cañón
- ni a cañonazos
- ni a dos tirones
- ni a la de tres
- ni a palos
- ni a tiros
- ni a tres tirones
- ni bien
- ni borracho
- ni buscado con un candil
- ni cosa que lo valga
- ni Cristo que lo fundó
- ni de broma
- ni de coña
- ni de guasa
- ni de lejos
- ni Dios
- ni en sueños
- ni gaitas
- ni ganas
- ni hablar
- ni hablar del peluquín
- ni harto de vino
- ni hecho a propósito
- ni idea
- ni jota
- ni media palabra
- ni modo
- ni mu
- ni mucho menos
- ni muerto
- ni palabra
- ni pensarlo
- ni pío
- ni pizca
- ni por asomo
- ni por esas
- ni por un cristo
- ni que
- ni que decir tiene
- ni qué hostias
- ni qué leches
- ni qué niño muerto
- ni qué ocho cuartos
- ni qué pan caliente
- ni remotamente
- ni siquiera
- ni un pelo
- nini
- no dejar verde ni seco
- no ni na
- ya ni la friegas
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
ni f (plural níes)
Further reading edit
- “ni”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Swahili edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (Kenya) (file)
Verb edit
ni
- positive degree present and gnomic (all persons, numbers, and classes) of -wa (“to be”)
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
Since 1661, through rebracketing of the 2nd plural verb suffix -(e)n and the older pronoun I ("ye"), e.g. vissten I > visste ni (“did you know”). Compare Icelandic þér and þið which developed similarly.
The Old Swedish ī, īr derives from Old Norse *īʀ (East Norse variant of ér) from Proto-Germanic *jīz, from Proto-Indo-European *yū́. Compare Danish I.
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
- you (plural nominative), "y'all"
- Du är bara en person, men ni där borta är fyra personer
- You are just one person, but you/y'all over there are four people
- you (second-person singular nominative formal) (capitalized Ni, rare in modern use)
- (obsolete) title used when addressing a person of lower social rank
- –Ni kan börja med att städa kontoret, fröken Andersson.
–Javisst, Herr Direktör.- –You can start with cleaning the office, miss Andersson.
–Certainly, Mr. Director
- –You can start with cleaning the office, miss Andersson.
- (colloquial, perceived formal, derogatory to some) by some considered a respectful alternative to du (“you”), especially when addressing customers or the elderly
- Vill ni ha en påse med köpet?
- Do you want a bag with your purchase?
- (obsolete) title used when addressing a person of lower social rank
Usage notes edit
Both ni and er are second person plural forms, but can also be used as formal second person singular, as in the German Sie or French vous. It may sometimes also be capitalized (Ni, Er). The courteous "ni" was introduced in Swedish around the year 1900 as an alternative to the more complicated pattern of addressing others in the third person singular by their appropriate titles. This required knowledge of social status, occupation, educations, etc. with terms like fru (“Mrs.”) or fröken (“Ms.”), greve (“count”), kamrer (“accountant”), kandidat (“bachelor's degree holder”), etc. However this "ni-reform" was not well liked and when authority came to use the word ni to their subordinates the word got a condescending undertone. Interestingly enough the older I, from which ni was originally formed, was used alongside ni all along (and is still in use in some dialects) but never got the condescending undertone that ni got. This was all phased out gradually during the 1960s and 1970s in the so-called du-reformen, (“the you-reform”). In contemporary Swedish, du is universal and may be used to address anyone, regardless of differences in social status or age.
Ni is used occasionally by younger speakers to address customers in order to be formal and polite. However this is often seen as being overly formal and too contrived, even condescending and insulting, especially by older speakers. Formality and politeness in modern Swedish is not conveyed through specific grammatical forms, but primarily done through indirectness, manners of speaking or various other behaviors.
Declension edit
Number | Person | Type | Nominative | Oblique | Possessive | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
common | neuter | plural | |||||
singular | first | — | jag | mig, mej3 | min | mitt | mina |
second | — | du | dig, dej3 | din | ditt | dina | |
third | masculine (person) | han | honom, han2, en5 | hans | |||
feminine (person) | hon | henne, na5 | hennes | ||||
gender-neutral (person)1 | hen | hen, henom7 | hens | ||||
common (noun) | den | den | dess | ||||
neuter (noun) | det | det | dess | ||||
indefinite | man or en4 | en | ens | ||||
reflexive | — | sig, sej3 | sin | sitt | sina | ||
plural | first | — | vi | oss | vår, våran2 | vårt, vårat2 | våra |
second | — | ni | er | er, eran2, ers6 | ert, erat2 | era | |
archaic | I | eder | eder, eders6 | edert | edra | ||
third | — | de, dom3 | dem, dom3 | deras | |||
reflexive | — | sig, sej3 | sin | sitt | sina |
Synonyms edit
References edit
- ni in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- ni in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- ni in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Anagrams edit
Tagalog edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Austronesian *ni (“marker of possession”).
Preposition edit
ni (plural nina, Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)
- of; possessive particle, used only with personal names
- bisikleta ni Juan ― Juan's bicycle
- objective marker for personal names, objective form of si; functional equivalent of ng
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Borrowed from Spanish ni (“not even”), from Old Spanish nin, from Latin nec, apocopated form of neque.
Conjunction edit
ni (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)
- neither; nor
- Ni ako hindi nagsisigarilyo. ― Even I don't do cigarettes.
- Ni aso ni pusa. ― Neither dog nor cat.
Adverb edit
ni (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)
- not even
- Hindi ako humingi ni isang butil ng bigas. ― I didn't ask not even for a single grain of rice.
Tarifit edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ni (Tifinagh spelling ⵏⵉ)
- (intransitive) to mount (on an animal)
- (intransitive) to get into, to board, to embark (a vehicle)
Conjugation edit
This verb needs an inflection-table template.
Derived Terms edit
Tokelauan edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *ni. Cognates include Tuvaluan ni and Samoan ni.
Article edit
ni
- Plural indefinite article; any
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
Particle edit
ni
References edit
- R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary[10], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 250
Unami edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni
Ura (Vanuatu) edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ni
Further reading edit
- Terry Crowley, Ura: A Disappearing Language of Southern Vanuatu (1999)
Uzbek edit
Particle edit
ni (Cyrillic ни)
- accusative case marker. It is placed after the direct object of a transitive verb.
- Men O'zbek tilini o'rganyapman.
- I am studying Uzbek.
Veps edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Russian ни (ni).
Determiner edit
ni
Inflection edit
Not inflected.
Conjunction edit
ni ... ni
References edit
- Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “ни”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika
Vietnamese edit
Etymology edit
See này.
This is one of many cases in which monophthongs were not diphthongized in Central Vietnamese, compare mày vs. mi, chấy vs. chí, nước vs. nác.
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
ni
Adverb edit
ni
See also edit
Vietnamese demonstratives | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar | |||||||||||||||||||
Unspecified | Close to the speaker or newly introduced |
Remote, already identified | |||||||||||||||||
PLACE đ- (first register) |
đâu ‘wherever’ |
đây ‘here’ |
đấy ‘there’ | ||||||||||||||||
REFERENCE n- (second register) |
nào ‘whichever’ |
này ‘this’ |
nọ ‘that’ | ||||||||||||||||
PROPORTION b- (first register) |
bao ‘to whatever extent’ |
bây ‘to this extent’ |
bấy ‘to that extent’ | ||||||||||||||||
MANNER s- (first register) v- (second register) |
sao ‘however’ |
vầy ‘this way’ |
vậy ‘that way’ | ||||||||||||||||
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited” | |||||||||||||||||||
D• (Indefinite) |
D1 (Proximal) |
D2 (Medial) |
D3 (Distal) | ||||||||||||||||
+NOM(inal) | đâu place-what |
đây place-this |
đấy place-that1 |
||||||||||||||||
±NOM(inal) | đó (place-)that1 |
kia (place-)that2 | |||||||||||||||||
–NOM(inal) | nào what |
nầy this |
nấy/ấy that1 |
nọ that2 |
Proximal (*-iː) |
Distal 1 (*-iːʔ) |
Distal 2 (*-əːʔ) |
Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ) |
Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place, attributive1 n- |
ni nì này |
nấy | nớ | nọ | nào |
Place, nominal2 đ- |
đây | đí đấy |
— | đó | đâu |
Manner r- |
ri rày |
— | rứa | — | ru sao3 |
Extent 14 b- |
bây | bấy | — | — | bao |
Extent 25 v- |
vầy | vậy | — | — | — |
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). 2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). 3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). 5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”). |
Anagrams edit
Welsh edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Brythonic *ni, from Proto-Celtic *snīs.
Pronoun edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
From Proto-Celtic *nīs, from Proto-Indo-European *ne h₁ésti (“is not”).
Adverb edit
ni
West Makian edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
ni (possessive prefix ni)
- second-person singular pronoun, you
See also edit
independent | possessive prefix | |
---|---|---|
1st person singular | de | ti |
2nd person singular | ni | ni |
3rd person singular | me | mVan., dVinan. |
1st person plural inclusive | ene | nV |
1st person plural exclusive | imi | mi |
2nd person plural | ini | fi |
3rd person plural | eme | di |
- V indicates the expected assimilated vowel of the following noun, following standard West Makian vowel harmony.
References edit
- Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours[11], Pacific linguistics
Yil edit
Noun edit
ni
References edit
- transnewguinea.org, citing D. C. Laycock, Languages of the Lumi Subdistrict (West Sepik District), New Guinea (1968), Oceanic Linguistics, 7 (1): 36-66 : /niː/
- A Tentative Phonemic Statement in Yil in West Sepik Province, in Phonologies of five Austronesian languages (Richard Loving, John M. Clifton; 1975) : /ni/
Yoruba edit
Etymology 1 edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ní
- The name of the Latin-script letter N.
See also edit
- (Latin-script letter names) lẹ́tà; á, bí, dí, é, ẹ́, fí, gí, gbì, hí, í, jí, kí, lí, mí, ní, ó, ọ́, pí, rí, sí, ṣí, tí, ú, wí, yí
Etymology 2 edit
Alternative forms edit
- nẹ́ (Oǹdó, Ìkálẹ̀)
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ní
- (transitive) to have
Etymology 3 edit
Pronunciation edit
Preposition edit
ní
Derived terms edit
- lẹ́ẹ̀kan (“once”)
- lẹ́yìn (“behind, except”)
- lọ́dọọdún (“every year”)
- lọ́jọ́ ọ̀la (“in the future”)
- lọ́la (“tomorrow”)
- lọ́sọ̀ọ̀sẹ̀ (“every week”)
- lọ́sọ̀ọ̀sán (“every afternoon”)
- lọ́sàn-án (“in the afternoon”)
- lọ́tùn-ún-la (“the day after tomorrow”)
- lábẹ́ (“under”)
- lálaalẹ́ (“every evening”)
- lálẹ́ (“in the evening”)
- lánàá (“yesterday”)
- láràárọ̀ (“every morning”)
- láyé àtijọ́ (“historically”)
- láàárọ̀ (“in the morning”)
- lóde òní (“nowadays”)
- lójoojúmọ́ (“everyday”)
- lókè (“over, above”)
- lónìí (“today”)
- lópin (“at the end”)
- lórí (“on top, on”)
- lóòótọ́ (“in truth”)
- ní báyìí (“at this time”)
- níbẹ̀ (“there”)
- níbẹ̀rẹ̀ (“at the start”)
- níbikíbi (“anywhere”)
- níbo (“where”)
- níbí (“here”)
- nígbà tí (“when”)
- nígbàkugbà (“at any time”)
- níjẹta (“two days ago”)
- nílẹ̀ (“down”)
- nílé (“at home”)
- nínú (“inside”)
- nípòkípò (“in any position”)
- nísàlẹ̀ (“below, under”)
- nítorí (“because of”)
See also edit
Etymology 4 edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ní
- (intransitive) to say
See also edit
Etymology 5 edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
ni
- (transitive) to be (to have a quality or identification)
Usage notes edit
This verb cannot be used with regular subject pronouns such as mo or ó, and emphatic subject pronouns must be used in their place. This verb is also often used in a flipped structure where the quality or identification becomes the grammatical subject of the verb while an object pronoun is used for the actual subject of the sentence.
- Òun ni ọ̀rẹ́ mi. – He is my friend. (uses the emphatic pronoun òun instead of ó)
- Ṣé ọmọ Yorùbá ni yín? – Are you Yoruba? (Ọmọ Yorùbá becomes the subject of ni while "you" becomes the object pronoun yín)
See also edit
Etymology 6 edit
Pronunciation edit
- (intransitive) to be bloated, to be tumid
Derived terms edit
Zou edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-Kuki-Chin *nii, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj. Cognates include Northern Min 日 (nì) and Burmese နေ (ne).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
ni
Etymology 2 edit
< 1 | 2 | 3 > |
---|---|---|
Cardinal : ni | ||
From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ni, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s. Cognates include Northern Min 二 (nī) and Tibetan གཉིས (gnyis).
Pronunciation edit
Numeral edit
ni
References edit
- Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40
Zulu edit
Etymology 1 edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Adjective edit
-ni?
- what (kind of)
Inflection edit
Enumerative concord, tone H | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Modifier | ||||
Class 1 | muni | |||
Class 2 | bani | |||
Class 3 | muni | |||
Class 4 | mini | |||
Class 5 | lini | |||
Class 6 | mani | |||
Class 7 | sini | |||
Class 8 | zini | |||
Class 9 | yini | |||
Class 10 | zini | |||
Class 11 | luni | |||
Class 14 | buni | |||
Class 15 | kuni | |||
Class 17 | kuni |
Etymology 2 edit
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Pronoun edit
-ni
- Combining stem of nina.
References edit
- C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “-ni”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ni”