ぬ

See also: め

ぬ	U+306C, ぬ HIRAGANA LETTER NU

← に
[U+306B]

Hiragana

ね →
[U+306D]

Japanese

Stroke order

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 奴 in the cursive sōsho style.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nɯ̟]

Syllable

ぬ • (nu)

The hiragana syllable ぬ (nu). Its equivalent in katakana is ヌ (nu). It is the twenty-third syllable in the gojūon order; its position is な行う段 (na-gyō u-dan, “row na, section u”).

Etymology 2

The 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of Classical Japanese negative suffix ず (zu). During the transition into modern Japanese, the 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) was abandoned and its functions were taken up by the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”). This suffix is turn from Old Japanese. For further detail, see ず (zu).

Pronunciation

In the modern Tokyo dialect, when -ぬ attaches to the 未然形 (mizenkei) of a verb, the resulting accent follows the lexical accent of the verb:

When attaching to a 平板式 (heiban-shiki) verb, the result is also 平板式 (heiban-shiki):

言(い)う (iu): いう [iu] (Heiban – [0]) → いわぬ [iwanu] (Heiban – [0])

寝(ね)る (neru): ねる [neru] (Heiban – [0]) → ねぬ [nenu] (Heiban – [0])

When attaching to a 起伏式 (kifuku-shiki) verb, the result is also 起伏式 (kifuku-shiki) with the アクセント核 (akusento-kaku, “accent kernel”) falling on the mora before the -ぬ:

書(か)く (kaku): かく [kaꜜku] (Atamadaka – [1]) → かかぬ [kakaꜜnu] (Nakadaka)

出来(でき)る (dekiru): できる [dekiꜜru] (Nakadaka) → できぬ [dekiꜜnu] (Nakadaka)

As with せず (sezu) and せよ (seyo), せぬ (senu) is accented even though する (suru) is not.

Suffix

ぬ • (-nu)

(archaic) (after the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of a verb) the negative: indicates negation of the action, ending without starting or occurring: not
風(かぜ)が立(た)たぬ
kaze ga tatanu
the wind does not rise / does not pick up

予(よ)期(き)せぬエラーが発(はっ)生(せい)しました。
Yoki senu erā ga hassei shimashita.
An unexpected error has occurred.

Usage notes

Inflection rules for the ぬ form

Word	dictionary form	mizenkei + -nu	historical kana
godan verbs (type 1)
書く	かく (kaku)	かかぬ (kakanu)
泳ぐ	およぐ (oyogu)	およがぬ (oyoganu)
話す	はなす (hanasu)	はなさぬ (hanasanu)
待つ	まつ (matsu)	またぬ (matanu)
死ぬ	しぬ (shinu)	しなぬ (shinanu)
呼ぶ	よぶ (yobu)	よばぬ (yobanu)
読む	よむ (yomu)	よまぬ (yomanu)
作る	つくる (tsukuru)	つくらぬ (tsukuranu)
買う	かう (kau)	かわぬ (kawanu)	かはぬ
ichidan verbs (type 2)
見る	みる (miru)	みぬ (minu)
開ける	あける (akeru)	あけぬ (akenu)
irregular verbs (type 3)
来る	くる (kuru)	こぬ (konu)
する	する (suru)	せぬ (senu)

This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "ぬ" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	-	-
Continuative (連用形)	ずん	zu n
Terminal (終止形)	ぬん	nu n
Attributive (連体形)	ぬん	nu n
Hypothetical (仮定形)	ね	ne
Imperative (命令形)	-	-
Key constructions
Passive	-	-
Causative	-	-
Potential	-	-
Volitional	-	-
Negative	-	-
Negative continuative	-	-
Formal	んです	ndesu
Perfective	んだ	nda
Conjunctive	んで	nde
Hypothetical conditional	ねば	neba
The missing forms are usually suppleted by the forms of ない.

For classical conjugation, see ず.

Synonyms

(negative verb ending):

(very casual, also archaic, also dialectal) ん (n)
(casual) ない (nai)
(formal) ません (masen)
(written formal) ず (zu)
(Kansai) へん (hen)

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Many monolingual Japanese dictionaries^[1]^[2]^[3] derive this as a contraction of Old Japanese 往ぬ (inu, “to go away; to pass (such as time); to pass away, to die”); however, the meaning does not seem to make sense in the context of the verb ending -nu.

More recent work by Bjarke Frellesvig and others suggests that -nu may have originated from an ancient copular or stative verb.

Suffix

ぬ • (-nu)

(Classical Japanese or literary) (after the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of verb) the perfective: indicates completion of the action, ending after starting or occurring: has done, has happened
風(かぜ)が立(た)ちぬ
kaze ga tachinu
the wind has risen / has picked up
- 1943, 土井晩翠譯『オヂュッセーア』第十九歌 [1]
  多(おほ)くの女(ぢよ)性(せい)彼(かれ)を見(み)て皆(みな)驚(きやう)嘆(たん)の目(め)を張(は)りぬ。
  Ōku no josei kare o mite mina kyōtan no me o harinu.
  Many women looked at him and all opened their eyes wide with admiration.

Usage notes

In Old Japanese and continuing in classical and later Japanese, the ending ぬ (nu) and the ending つ (tsu) have both been used to mark the completion of an action. ぬ (nu) was used mainly for verbs that indicated intransitive, naturally occurring, or unintentional actions, while つ (tsu) was used mainly for verbs that indicated transitive or intentional actions. In the shift to modern Japanese, this distinction was lost, and Classical つ (tsu) developed into modern た (ta).
In classical Japanese, perfective ぬ (nu) conjugates differently from negative ぬ (nu) (ず (zu)) as shown in the following table:

	Negative ぬ (nu) (ず (zu))	Perfective ぬ (nu)
Attaches to verb stem conjugated to →	Irrealis / 未然形 (mizenkei)	Continuative / 連用形 (ren'yōkei)
Conjugates to ↓
Irrealis / 未然形 (mizenkei)	ず (zu)	な (na)
Continuative / 連用形 (ren'yōkei)	ず (zu)	に (ni)
Terminal / 終止形 (shūshikei)	ず (zu)	ぬ (nu)
Attributive / 連体形 (rentaikei)	ぬ (nu)	ぬる (nuru)
Realis / 已然形 (izenkei)	ね (ne)	ぬれ (nure)
Imperative / 命令形 (meireikei)	-	ね (ne)

In modern Japanese, ぬ (nu) is rarely encountered, and it often imparts a formal or archaic sense.
This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "ぬ" (ナ行変格活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	な	na
Continuative (連用形)	に	ni
Terminal (終止形)	ぬ	nu
Attributive (連体形)	ぬる	nuru
Realis (已然形)	ぬれ	nure
Imperative (命令形)	ね	ne
Negative	なずざりぬ^[1]	nazu zarinu
Contrasting conjunction	ぬれど	nuredo
Causal conjunction	ぬれば	nureba
Conditional conjunction	なば	naba
^[1]Use perfect tense of ず.

Synonyms

(perfective verb ending):

(casual) た (ta)
(formal) ました (mashita)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

Kunigami

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese の (no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Particle

ぬ (nu)

possessive particle

Miyako

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese の (no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Particle

ぬ (nu)

possessive particle

Okinawan

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *no, from Proto-Japonic *nə (“nominative and genitive case marker”). Cognate with Japanese の (no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Particle

ぬ (nu)

genitive case marker
1. Indicates possession: of, -'s
  那覇(なーふぁ)ぬ天気(てぃんち)
  Nāfa-nu tinchi
  Naha's weather
nominative case marker
1. Indicates the subject of a sentence.
  天道(てぃーだ)ぬ上(あ)がゆん。
  Tīda-nu agayun.
  The sun rises.
  
  鳥(とぅい)ぬ鳴(な)ちゅん。
  Tui-nu nachun.
  The birds sing.

Usage notes

が (ga) is used for personal names or pronouns, ぬ (nu) is used otherwise. See *no for details.

References

“ヌ” in Okinawa Center of Language Study, Shuri-Naha Dialect Dictionary (archived; reopens 2024).

Old Japanese

Etymology

The conjugation of this auxiliary verb appears to follow that of a defective n-row 四段活用(よだんかつよう) (yodan katsuyō) paradigm rather than a ナ行変格活用(ぎょうへんかくかつよう) (na-gyō henkaku katsuyō) paradigm, despite the fact that there was never an n-row 四段活用(よだんかつよう) (yodan katsuyō) paradigm.

Notably, this verb has no attested 終止形(しゅうしけい) (shūshikei); uses and conjugations off of にす (nisu) are seen instead. This verb also has no attested 命令形(めいれいけい) (meireikei).

Suffix

ぬ (-nu)

(following the irrealis stem of verbs)
1. expresses negation; not

Conjugation

Classical conjugation of "ぬ" (irregular)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	な	na
Continuative (連用形)	に	ni
Terminal (終止形)	^[1]	-
Attributive (連体形)	ぬ	nu
Realis (已然形)	ね	ne
Imperative (命令形)		-
Key constructions
Negative		-
Contrasting conjunction	ねど	nedo
Causal conjunction	ねば	neba
Conditional conjunction		-
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)		-
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)		-
Perfect tense (conscious action)		-
Perfect tense (natural event)		-
Perfect-continuative tense		-
Adverbial	に	ni
^[1]にす (nisu) is used instead.

Descendants

ず (zu)

Yaeyama

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese の (no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Particle

ぬ (nu)

possessive particle

Yonaguni

Etymology

Cognate with Japanese の (no).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nu/

Particle

ぬ (nu)

possessive particle

[KDJ-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJS-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[1]

[2]

[3]