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ni

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA or enPR then please add some!

Noun

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ni

  1. (grammar) Initialism of noun inanimate.

See also

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Anagrams

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Abinomn

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. you (singular)

Afar

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Pronunciation

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Determiner

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  1. 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

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Afar possessive determiners
1st person 2nd person 3rd person
m f
personal singular yi ku kay tet
plural ni sin ken
reflexive singular inní isí
plural ninní isinní, sinní

References

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  • 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

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ni (Kana spelling )

  1. tree
  2. wood

Synonyms

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Albanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Albanian *nū, from Proto-Indo-European *nū (now). Cognate to Sanskrit नू (, now).[1] Often occurs in coordination with other particles, compare tani, nani, nime.

Adverb

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ni

  1. now
    Synonyms: tash, tani, , nani, nime
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References

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  1. ^ 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

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Noun

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ni

  1. (Mpakwithi) place
  2. (Mpakwithi) camp

References

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  • Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 187

Aromanian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Vulgar Latin nīs, from Latin nos. Compare Romanian ne (older form ).

Pronoun

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ni (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)

  1. (direct object, first-person plural) us
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  • noi (stressed accusative)

Pronoun

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ni (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)

  1. (indirect object, first-person plural) (to) us
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  • nau (stressed dative)

See also

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Asturian

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Noun

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ni f (uncountable)

  1. nu (name for the letter of the Greek alphabet: Ν and ν)

Atong (India)

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Etymology

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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 (nyip), Burmese နှစ် (hnac).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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ni (Bengali script নি)

  1. two

Synonyms

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References

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Bambara

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Etymology 1

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Noun

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ni

  1. soul, life, spirit

Etymology 2

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Conjunction

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ni

  1. if
    Ni taara sugu la, i bɛ ne ba ye.
    If you go to the market, you will see my mother
  2. when

References

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Basque

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Etymology

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From Proto-Basque *ni.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. First-person singular personal pronoun; I
    • c. 1808, Juan Bautista Aguirre, Eracusaldiac [Lessons]‎[4], Tolosa, published 1850, page 473:
      [] Jauna: ez naiz ni beñere izan zu neure viotzean artzeco diña []
      [ [] Jauna, ez naiz ni beñere izan zu nere biotzean artzeko diña [] ]
      [] Lord, not even once have I been worth of belonging to your heart []
    • 1989, Gorka Aulestia, Basque-English Dictionary, Douglas: William A, page 53:
      Ni errege izan nintzen.
      I was king.
    • 2013, Patricio Urquizu Sarasua, Gramática de la lengua vasca, Universidad Nacional de Educación de Distancia, page 154:
      Ni etorri naiz.
      I have come.

Declension

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • ni”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
  • ni”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

Biloxi

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Noun

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ni

  1. Synonym of ani (water)

References

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Breton

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Brythonic *ni, from Proto-Celtic *snīs.

Pronoun

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ni

  1. we (first-person plural personal pronoun)

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Brythonic *nei, from Proto-Celtic *neɸūss, from Proto-Indo-European *népōts.

Noun

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ni m (plural nied)

  1. nephew

Catalan

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Conjunction

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ni

  1. neither, nor

Adverb

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ni

  1. not even, even

Etymology 2

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Noun

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ni f (plural nis)

  1. nu; the Greek letter Ν (lowercase ν)

Czech

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni f

  1. accusative singular of ona

Danish

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Danish cardinal numbers
 <  8 9 10  > 
    Cardinal : ni
    Ordinal : niende

Etymology

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From Old Norse níu, from Proto-Germanic *newun, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (nine).

Pronunciation

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Numeral

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ni

  1. nine

Drung

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Etymology

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj.

Noun

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ni

  1. day

References

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  • Ross Perlin (2019) A Grammar of Trung[5], Santa Barbara: University of California

Dumbea

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. they

References

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Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

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Determiner

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ni

  1. this.

Pronoun

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ni

  1. this.

Esperanto

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Etymology

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From Italian noi, French nous, Spanish nos, Latin nos, plus the i of personal pronouns.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni (first-person plural, accusative nin, possessive nia)

  1. we (first-person plural personal pronoun)
    Ni batis lin.
    We hit him.
  2. ourselves
    Ni diris al ni.
    We said to ourselves.

See also

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French

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Etymology

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From Middle French ny, from Old French ne, from Latin nec. Compare Italian , Catalan and Spanish ni, Portuguese nem.

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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ni

  1. 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]‎[6]:
      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

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  • 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

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See also

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Further reading

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Gothic

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Romanization

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ni

  1. Romanization of 𐌽𐌹

Hanunoo

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Etymology

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From Proto-Austronesian *ni (marker of possession).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈni/ [ˈni]
  • Rhymes: -i
  • Syllabification: ni

Preposition

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ni (Hanunoo spelling ᜨᜲ)

  1. of; by
    ti luka ni Badolime tube of Bado
    Kinaon ni Bado ti burot.
    The wild yam was eaten by Bado.

See also

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Further reading

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  • Conklin, Harold C. (1953) Hanunóo-English Vocabulary (University of California Publications in Linguistics), volume 9, London, England: University of California Press, →OCLC, page 198

Hausa

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Chadic, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔanāku.

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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  1. I (1st person singular pronoun)

See also

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  • mínì (1st person singular indirect object enclitic pronoun)
  • (1st person singular independent object pronoun)
  • -wá (1st person singular possessive enclitic pronoun)

Hungarian

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Etymology

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Native word of debated origin:[1]

  1. Shortened from nézd (look!) ~ nízd (a dialectal variant).
  2. An onomatopoeia expressing astonishment.

Pronunciation

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Interjection

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ni

  1. (colloquial) lo!, look!
    Itt van ni!Look! Here it is!

Usage notes

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Most of the time it is used in its duplicated form: nini!

References

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  1. ^ 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

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  • 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

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Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

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Ido

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. (personal) we (first-person plural personal pronoun)

Ingrian

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Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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ni

  1. 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

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  • Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 340

Interlingua

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From French and Spanish ni, from Latin nec (and not).

Adverb

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ni

  1. and not.
    Io non sape, ni vole saperI don’t know, and I don’t want to know
  2. Neither, nor.
    Illo ni me place ni displaceIt neither pleases me nor displeases me
  3. And, or (following a "with no" or "without").
    Nos debe resister sin aqua ni alimentoWe must resist with no water or food

Italian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈni/
  • Rhymes: -i
  • Hyphenation:

Etymology 1

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Blend of no +‎ .

Adverb

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ni

  1. (informal) neither yes nor no

Etymology 2

[edit]
Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Noun

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ni m or f (invariable)

  1. nu (Greek letter)

Anagrams

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Japanese

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Romanization

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ni

  1. The hiragana syllable (ni) or the katakana syllable (ni) in Hepburn romanization.

Kamano

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Alternative forms

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Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

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  • The Papuan Languages of New Guinea (1986, →ISBN

Kansa

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Etymology

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From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (water).

Noun

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ni

  1. water
  2. any liquid
  3. river

References

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Kedah Malay

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. you (singular)

Klao

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Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

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  • World Lexicon of Grammaticalization (2002, →ISBN

Laboya

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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ni

  1. coconut

References

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  • Allahverdi Verdizade (2019) “ni”, in Lamboya word list[7], Leiden: LexiRumah

Latin

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Etymology

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From Old Latin nei, from Proto-Italic *nei, from Proto-Indo-European *néy (not), from *ne. Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌹 (nei), Lithuanian nei, Old Church Slavonic ни (ni), Old Irish and Sanskrit (). See also .

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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(not comparable)

  1. not, if...not, unless- an absolutely negative particle like ne so only in combinations

Derived terms

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Conjunction

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  1. not, that not, unless; like ne in imperative and intentional clauses
    Ni quid tibi hinc in spem referas.Take not whatsoever hope hence.
    Vinum aliudve quid ni laudato.I don't praise wine or anything else.
    Numa constituit, ut pisces, qui squamosi non essent, ni pollucerent ... ni qui ad polluctum emerent.[The Roman king] Numa ordained that scaleless fish be neither offered [to the gods] ... nor bought for offering.

Ligurian

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Etymology

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From Latin nec.

Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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ni

  1. nor
  2. neither...nor
  3. either...or

Livonian

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Etymology

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From Proto-Finnic *nügüt. Cognates include Finnish nyt.

Adverb

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ni

  1. now

Lolopo

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Etymology

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From Proto-Loloish *(ʔ)-ne¹, from Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔnəj¹/³, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj (sun; day).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ni 

  1. (Yao'an) day

References

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  • Merrifield, Judith, Merrifield, Scott (2018) “Query for ni”, in Yao'an Loxrlavu – English Dictionary (in Chinese), SIL International

Luxembourgish

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Etymology

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From Middle High German nie, from Old High German nio. Cognate with German nie.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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ni

  1. never

Synonyms

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Malay

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Pronunciation

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Determiner

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ni (Jawi spelling ني)

  1. Colloquial form of ini

Pronoun

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ni (Jawi spelling ني)

  1. Colloquial form of ini

Mandarin

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Romanization

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ni

  1. Nonstandard spelling of .
  2. Nonstandard spelling of .
  3. Nonstandard spelling of .
  4. Nonstandard spelling of .

Usage notes

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  • 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

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Etymology

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From Proto-Micronesian *niu, from Proto-Oceanic *niuʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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ni

  1. coconut tree
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  • iu (coconut)

References

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Middle English

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Adverb

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ni

  1. Alternative form of ne

Conjunction

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ni

  1. Alternative form of ne

Middle Irish

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Particle

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ni

  1. Alternative spelling of

Mizo

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Kuki-Chin *nii (sun; day), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj (sun; day).

Noun

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ni

  1. sun
  2. day
  3. time

Etymology 2

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Noun

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ni

  1. aunt

References

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Mohegan-Pequot

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Pronoun

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ni (first person singular)

  1. singular first-person pronoun I

Mokilese

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Etymology

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From Proto-Micronesian *niu, from Proto-Oceanic *niuʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *niuʀ.

Noun

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ni

  1. coconut tree

Derived terms

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References

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. second person singular pronoun you
    Shí dóó ni ayóo ałk’is niidlį́.
    You and I are really good friends.
  2. second person singular possessive pronoun yours
    Díí naaltsoos éí ni.
    This book is yours.

Usage notes

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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

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Navajo personal pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person shí nihí danihí
2nd person ni nihí danihí
3rd person daabí
4th person (3a) daahó

Naxi

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋja.

Noun

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ni

  1. fish

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s.

Numeral

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ni

  1. two

References

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  • Naxi Dictionary by T.M. Pinson, Lijiang 2012

Ningil

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Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

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  • 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

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Norwegian Bokmål cardinal numbers
 <  8 9 10  > 
    Cardinal : ni
    Ordinal : niende

Etymology

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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

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Numeral

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ni

  1. nine

Derived terms

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References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk cardinal numbers
 <  8 9 10  > 
    Cardinal : ni
    Ordinal : niande

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Norse níu.

Numeral

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ni

  1. nine

Derived terms

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References

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Nutabe

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Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

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Old Czech

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Pronunciation

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Pronoun

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ni

  1. dual accusative of oně

Old High German

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *ne.

Pronunciation

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Particle

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ni

  1. not

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Middle High German: ne
    • German: nee (dialectal)

Old Irish

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Particle

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ni

  1. Alternative spelling of

Omaha-Ponca

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Etymology

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From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (water).

Noun

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ni

  1. water

References

[edit]
  • Alice Cunningham Fletcher, Francis La Flesche, The Omaha Tribe (1970), page 166

Phalura

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Etymology 1

[edit]

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Determiner

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ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

  1. this (agr: prox fem / prox non-nom masc)

References

[edit]
  • Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎[8], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 2

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Determiner

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ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

  1. these (agr: prox)

References

[edit]
  • Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎[9], 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

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ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

  1. it
  2. she (prox fem nom)

References

[edit]
  • Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎[10], 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

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ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

  1. they (prox nom)

References

[edit]
  • Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎[11], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Polish

[edit]
Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Pronunciation

[edit]
 

Etymology 1

[edit]

    Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni.

    Conjunction

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (archaic) Synonym of ani
    Derived terms
    [edit]

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    See nie.

    Particle

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (dialectal, Przemyśl) Alternative form of nie

    Etymology 3

    [edit]

    See ny.

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni n (indeclinable)

    1. Alternative form of ny

    Further reading

    [edit]
    • ni in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
    • ni in Polish dictionaries at PWN
    • Aleksander Saloni (1899) “ni”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors, Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny (in Polish), volume 13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page 241

    Portuguese

    [edit]

    Etymology

    [edit]

    Borrowed from Ancient Greek νῦ ().

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    • Hyphenation: ni

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni m (plural nis)

    1. nu (the thirteenth letter of the Greek alphabet)

    Proto-Norse

    [edit]

    Romanization

    [edit]

    ni

    1. Romanization of ᚾᛁ

    Rawang

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Etymology 1

    [edit]

    Alternative forms

    [edit]

    Verb

    [edit]

    ni

    1. to pour; to water.

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    Alternative forms

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. headhair.

    Etymology 3

    [edit]

    From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj. Cognate with Burmese နေ (ne) and နေ့ (ne.), Old Chinese (*njiɡ).

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. day (24 hour).
    See also
    [edit]

    Romanian

    [edit]

    Etymology 1

    [edit]

    Inherited from Latin.

    Pronoun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. Alternative form of ne (dative of noi): to us
    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]

    Borrowed from Hungarian ni.

    Interjection

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (Transylvania) lo!, look!, behold!
      Ni la el!Look at him!

    Samoan

    [edit]

    Article

    [edit]

    ni

    1. 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)

    1. (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)

    1. (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

    1. us, accusative of nuàutri
    2. us, dative of nuàutri
    3. us, reflexive of nuàutri

    Inflection

    [edit]
    nominative nuàutri
    prepositional nuàutri
    accusative ni
    dative ni
    reflexive ni
    possessive nostru

    See also

    [edit]

    Slovene

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Verb

    [edit]

    1. negative third-person singular present of bíti

    Spanish

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]
    • IPA(key): /ˈni/ [ˈni]
    • Rhymes: -i
    • Syllabification: ni

    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 , Dalmatian ne. Indo-European cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌷 (nih) and Irish nach.

    Conjunction

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (coordinating) neither... nor
      Antonym: o ... o
      No tengo ni dinero ni tiempo.
      I have neither money nor time.
      1. (with three or more referents) none of...
        Ni Juan, ni Pedro, ni Felipe te darán la razón.
        None of John, Peter, or Phillip will give you the reason.
    2. nor, or
      No descansa de día ni de noche.
      He doesn't rest during the day nor during the night.
    Derived terms
    [edit]

    Adverb

    [edit]

    ni

    1. 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]

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni f (plural níes)

    1. nu; the Greek letter Ν, ν
      Synonym: ny

    Further reading

    [edit]

    Swahili

    [edit]
    Other scripts
    Ajami نِـ

    Etymology

    [edit]

    The use as a focus marker is original. This then acquired a presentative meaning (“it is”), which was finally reanalyzed as a copula.[1]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Particle

    [edit]

    ni

    1. focus marker
      • 2022, Muungano wa Tanganyika na Zanzibar: Chimbuko, Misingi na Maendeleo, Serikali ya Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania, →ISBN:
        Lengo la Mwalimu Nyerere kujiuzulu nafasi hiyo lilikuwa ni pamoja na kukiimarisha chama cha TANU kuweza kuyakabili vizuri majukumu ya uhuru.
        Mwalimu Nyerere's goal when he resigned from that position was nothing but to strengthen the TANU party to be able to effectively face the responsibilities of independence.

    Verb

    [edit]

    ni

    1. positive degree present and gnomic (all persons, numbers, and classes) of -wa (to be)

    References

    [edit]
    1. ^ John H. McWhorter (1992) “NI and the Copula System in Swahili: A Diachronic Approach”, in Diachronica, volume 9, number 1, →DOI, pages 15–46

    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

    1. you (plural nominative)
      Du är bara en person, men ni där borta är fyra personer
      You are just one person, but you/you guys over there are four people
    2. you (second-person singular nominative formal) (capitalized Ni, rare in modern use)
      1. (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
      2. (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?

    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]
    Swedish personal pronouns
    Number Person 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
    1Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.
    2Informal
    4Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.
    5Informal, somewhat dialectal
    6Formal address
    7Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

    Synonyms

    [edit]

    References

    [edit]

    Anagrams

    [edit]

    Tagalog

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Etymology 1

    [edit]

    From Proto-Austronesian *ni (marker of possession).

    Preposition

    [edit]

    ni (plural nina, Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)

    1. of; possessive particle, used only with personal names
      bisikleta ni JuanJuan's bicycle
    2. objective marker for personal names, objective form of si; functional equivalent of ng
    Derived terms
    [edit]
    See also
    [edit]
    Tagalog markers
    direct (ang) indirect (ng) oblique (sa)
    common singular ang ng sa
    plural ang mga ng mga sa mga
    personal singular si ni kay
    plural / polite sina nina kina

    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)

    1. neither; nor
      Ni ako hindi nagsisigarilyo. Even I don't do cigarettes.
      Ni aso ni pusa. Neither dog nor cat.
    [edit]

    See also

    [edit]

    Adverb

    [edit]

    ni (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)

    1. not even
      Synonym: ni ultimo
      Hindi ako humingi ni isang butil ng bigas.I didn't ask not even for a single grain of rice.

    Anagrams

    [edit]

    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]
    This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

    Verb

    [edit]

    ni (Tifinagh spelling ⵏⵉ)

    1. (intransitive) to mount (on an animal)
    2. (intransitive) to get into, to board, to embark (a vehicle)

    Conjugation

    [edit]

    This verb needs an inflection-table template.

    Derived terms

    [edit]
    • Verbal noun: tnaya (mounting, boarding)
    • Causative: sni (to make board)
    • tnaya (transport)
    • amnay (rider; cavalier, knight)

    Tokelauan

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]
    • IPA(key): [ni]
    • Hyphenation: ni

    Etymology 1

    [edit]

    From Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *ni. Cognates include Tuvaluan ni and Samoan ni.

    Article

    [edit]

    ni

    1. Plural indefinite article; any
    See also
    [edit]
    Tokelauan articles
    impersonal
    singular plural
    definite te
    indefinite he ni
    personal
    nominal pronominal
    simple ia
    after i/ki a a te
    after mai ia te

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    Particle

    [edit]

    ni

    1. Changes a statement into a polite question; isn't it? doesn't it?

    References

    [edit]
    • R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary[12], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 250

    Unami

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Pronoun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. I

    Ura (Vanuatu)

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. tree

    Further reading

    [edit]
    • Terry Crowley, Ura: A Disappearing Language of Southern Vanuatu (1999)

    Uzbek

    [edit]

    Particle

    [edit]
    Other scripts
    Yangi Imlo
    Cyrillic ни
    Latin
    Perso-Arabic
    (Afghanistan)

    ni

    1. accusative case marker; 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

    1. not, not a, no

    Inflection

    [edit]

    Not inflected.

    Conjunction

    [edit]

    ni ... ni

    1. neither ... nor

    References

    [edit]
    • Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “ни”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎[13], 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

    1. (Central Vietnam) this

    Adverb

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (Central Vietnam) now

    See also

    [edit]
    Vietnamese demonstratives
    proximal
    (*-iː)
    distal 1
    (*-iːʔ)
    distal 2
    (*-əːʔ)
    distal 3/
    remote
    (*-ɔːʔ)
    interrogative
    (rime was a rounded
    back vowel)
    place, attributive1
    n-
    ni

    này/nầy
    nây
    nấy nớ nọ
    ()
    nào
    place, nominal2
    đ-
    đây đấy
    (ấy)
    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).
    visibility/evidentiality6
    distal
    (ngang)
    remote
    (huyền)
    Northern-Southern kia
    ()
    kìa
    (cờ)
    Central tề
    6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms /cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943).


    Anagrams

    [edit]

    Welsh

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Etymology 1

    [edit]

    From Proto-Brythonic *ni, from Proto-Celtic *snīs.

    Pronoun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. us; we

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    From Proto-Celtic *nīs, from Proto-Indo-European *ne h₁ésti (is not).

    Adverb

    [edit]

    ni (triggers mixed mutation)

    1. (literary) not
      • 2004, Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig[14], Cymdeithas y Beibl, Genesis 21:26:
        Dywedodd Abimelech, “Ni wn i ddim pwy a wnaeth hyn; ni ddywedaist wrthyf, ac ni chlywais i sôn am y peth cyn heddiw.”
        Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this; you did not tell me, and I did not hear anything about it until today.”
    Usage notes
    [edit]
    • Triggers mixed mutation (i.e. aspirate of p, t, c and soft of remaining mutatable letters) of a following consonant.
    • The form nid is used before a vowel. When the following consonant is g, which disappears under soft mutation, the form ni remains, thus ni + gwn becomes ni wn, not *nid wn.
    • In literary registers, dim (anything) may be added (as ddim, with soft mutation) for emphasis, so ni chlywais i ddim may mean either “I did not hear anything” or simply “I did not hear”. In the colloquial language, ni is omitted but the mixed mutation remains, giving chlywais i ddim (“I didn't hear”).[1]
    See also
    [edit]

    References

    [edit]
    1. ^ Gareth King, editor (2000), “ni”, in Pocket Modern Oxford Welsh Dictionary: Welsh-English, Oxford University Press, →ISBN

    West Makian

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Pronoun

    [edit]

    ni (possessive prefix ni)

    1. second-person singular pronoun, you

    See also

    [edit]
    West Makian personal pronouns
    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
    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[15], Pacific linguistics

    Wutunhua

    [edit]

    Etymology

    [edit]

    From Mandarin ().

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Pronoun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. you (second-person subject pronoun)

    See also

    [edit]

    Yil

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. water

    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]

    IPA(key): /nĩ́/

    Noun

    [edit]

    1. The name of the Latin-script letter N/n.
    See also
    [edit]

    Etymology 2

    [edit]

    Alternative forms

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    IPA(key): /nĩ́/

    Verb

    [edit]

    1. (transitive) to have

    Etymology 3

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    IPA(key): /nĩ́/

    Preposition

    [edit]

    1. at, in (used when no movement is implied)
    2. preposition used for creating adverbials
    Derived terms
    [edit]
    See also
    [edit]

    Etymology 4

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    IPA(key): /nĩ́/

    Verb

    [edit]

    1. (intransitive) to say
    See also
    [edit]

    Etymology 5

    [edit]

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    IPA(key): /nĩ̄/

    Verb

    [edit]

    ni

    1. (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.

    1. Òun ni ọ̀rẹ́ mi. – He is my friend. (uses the emphatic pronoun òun instead of ó)
    2. 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]

    IPA(key): /nĩ̄/

    1. (intransitive) to be bloated, to be tumid

    Derived terms

    [edit]

    Zou

    [edit]

    Etymology 1

    [edit]
    Ni.

    From Proto-Kuki-Chin *nii, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nəj. Cognates include Northern Min () and Burmese နေ (ne).

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Noun

    [edit]

    ni

    1. sun

    Etymology 2

    [edit]
    Zou cardinal numbers
     <  1 2 3  > 
        Cardinal : ni

    From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ni, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g/s-ni-s. Cognates include Northern Min () and Tibetan གཉིས (gnyis).

    Pronunciation

    [edit]

    Numeral

    [edit]

    ni

    1. two

    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?

    1. 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

    1. Combining stem of nina.

    References

    [edit]