ni

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ni"

Languages (107)

English

---

Abinomn • Achang • Afar • Ainu • Akan • Albanian • Anguthimri • Aromanian • Asturian • Atong (India) • Bambara • Basque • Biloxi • Breton • Catalan • Central Bikol • Chungli Ao • Cornish • Czech • Danish • Dena'ina • Drung • Dumbea • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl • Esperanto • Fijian • French • Gothic • Hanunoo • Hausa • Humene • Hungarian • Idi • Ido • Indonesian • Ingrian • Interlingua • Italian • Japanese • Kamano • Kansa • Kapampangan • Kedah Malay • Kelantan Peranakan Hokkien • Klao • Laboya • Latin • Ligurian • Livonian • Lolopo • Lower Tanana • Luxembourgish • Ma'di • Malay • Mandarin • Marshallese • Mbonga • Middle English • Middle Irish • Mizo • Mohegan-Pequot • Mokilese • Navajo • Naxi • Ningil • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Nutabe • Old Czech • Old High German • Old Irish • Omaha-Ponca • Palula • Pattani Malay • Polish • Portuguese • Potawatomi • Proto-Norse • Quapaw • Rawang • Réunion Creole French • Romanian • Samoan • Serbo-Croatian • Sicilian • Siraya • Slovene • Spanish • Swahili • Swedish • Tagalog • Tarifit • Tashelhit • Tokelauan • Unami • Ura (Vanuatu) • Uzbek • Veps • Vietnamese • Welsh • West Makian • Wutunhua • Yil • Yoruba • Zou • Zulu

---

Page categories

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

Noun

ni

1. (grammar) Initialism of noun inanimate.

See also

• na
• nad
• nid

Anagrams

• -in, -in', IN, i'n, in, in-

Abinomn

Pronoun

ni

1. you (singular)

Achang

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *nəj(ʔ).

Pronunciation

• (Myanmar) /ni˧/
• (Longchuan) [ne³¹]
• (Xiandao) [nɛ³¹]

Adjective

ni

1. near, close

   ni los

   come near

Further reading

• Inglis, Douglas; Sampu, Nasaw; Jaseng, Wilai; Jana, Thocha (2005), A preliminary Ngochang–Kachin–English Lexicon‎^[2], Payap University, page 93

Afar

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni/ [ˈnɪ]
• Hyphenation: ni

Determiner

ní

1. our
   • Saytun Qhuraan kee kay maqnah tarjamaty Qafar afal tani [The clear Qur'an and its explanation translated into the Afar language]‎^[3], 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

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

• 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)‎^[4], Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

Ainu

Etymology

From Proto-Ainu *ni. A primary root denoting both the material "wood" and the functional concept of a "thing" or "entity" in compounds.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ní/

Noun

ni

1. A tree.
2. wood; timber.
3. A thing; an object (usually in compounds).

   Tun-ni

   leather-thing (bearded seal)

4. (archaic) A person.

Derived terms

• nitay (“forest”)
• nikap (“bark”)
• nip (“handle”)
• tunnin (“bearded seal”)
• nirus (“dandruff”)

References

• Vovin, Alexander (1993), A Reconstruction of Proto-Ainu, Leiden: Brill.
• Batchelor, John (1905), An Ainu-English-Japanese Dictionary, Tokyo: Methodist Publishing House.

Akan

Alternative forms

• nie

Verb

ni (negative nni)

1. this is...

   Me maame ni. ― This is my mother.

   Ahoɔfɛ ni? ― You're looking good, aren't you? (literally, “Is this beauty?”)

2. there is

Albanian

Alternative forms

• tani
• nani
• nime

Etymology

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

Adverb

ni

1. now

   Synonyms: tash, tani, hë, nani, nime

Related terms

• nu

Anguthimri

Noun

ni

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

References

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

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• nã

Etymology

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

Pronoun

ni (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)

1. (direct object, first-person plural) us

Related terms

• noi (stressed accusative)

Pronoun

ni (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)

1. (indirect object, first-person plural) (to) us

Related terms

• nau (stressed dative)

See also

• vi

Asturian

Noun

ni f (uncountable)

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

Atong (India)

Etymology

From Proto-Bodo-Garo *nɯi⁴ (“two”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kV-ni-s (“two”). Cognate with S'gaw Karen ခံ (khee), Tibetan གཉིས (gnyis), Sikkimese ཉི (nyi), Nuosu ꑍ (nyip), Burmese နှစ် (hnac).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Numeral

ni (Bengali script নি)

1. two

Synonyms

• rongni
• tu
• do

References

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

Bambara

Etymology 1

Noun

ni

1. soul, life, spirit

Etymology 2

Conjunction

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

• Richard Nci Diarra, Lexique bambara-français-anglais, December 13, 2010

Basque

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Basque *ni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/ [ni]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: ni

Pronoun

ni (emphatic forms neu, nihaur, nerau)

1. First-person singular personal pronoun; I
   • c. 1808, Juan Bautista Aguirre, Eracusaldiac [Lessons]‎^[5], 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

Declension of ni

absolutive	ni
ergative	nik
dative	niri
genitive	nire, ene
comitative	nirekin, enekin
causative	nigatik, niregatik, enegatik
benefactive	niretzat, niretako, enetzat, enetako
instrumental	nitaz
inessive	nigan, niregan, nire baitan, nitan, enegan, ene baitan
locative	nire baitako, ene baitako
allative	niregana, nireganat, nire baitara, nire baitarat, enegana, eneganat, ene baitara, ene baitarat
terminative	nireganaino, nire baitaraino, eneganaino, ene baitaraino
directive	niganantz, nireganantz, eneganantz
destinative	niganako, nireganako, eneganako
ablative	nireganik, niregandik, nire baitatik, nire baitarik, eneganik, enegandik, ene baitatik, ene baitarik

Derived terms

• neu
• ni beldur
• niganatu (“to bring closer to me”)
• nihaur
• nik al dakit (“who knows”)
• nik dakita (“who knows”)
• nik uste (“I suppose”)
• niketz
• niretar (“my family, my associates”)
• niretu
• nirezko
• nitasun

See also

Basque personal pronouns

		singular		plural
		plain	emphatic	plain	emphatic
1st person		ni	neu, nihaur, nerau	gu	geu, guhaur, gerok
2nd person	familiar	hi	heu, hihaur, herori	zuek	zeuek, zuhauek, zerok
	neutral	zu	zeu, zuhaur, zerori
3rd person		use demonstrative and anaphoric pronouns

Further reading

• “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

Etymology

Clipping of ani. Not attested in Ofo, which is related to this language.

Noun

ni

1. alternative form of ani (“water”)

References

• David Kaufman (2011), Tanêks–Tąyosą Kadakathi [Biloxi–English Dictionary]‎^[6], Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, →ISBN, page 34
• James Owen Dorsey, John Reed Swanton (1912), “aniʼ, ni”, in A Dictionary of the Biloxi and Ofo Languages, Accompanied with Thirty-One Biloxi Texts and Numerous Biloxi Phrases (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin; 47)‎^[7], Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 173

Breton

Etymology 1

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

Pronoun

ni

1. we (first-person plural personal pronoun)

See also

Breton personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person		me	ni
2nd person		te	c’hwi
3rd person	m	eñ	int
	f	hi

Etymology 2

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

Noun

ni m (plural nied)

1. nephew

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [ni]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i

Etymology 1

Conjunction

ni

1. neither, nor

Adverb

ni

1. not even, even

Etymology 2

Noun

ni f (plural nis)

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

Central Bikol

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/ [n̪i]
• Hyphenation: ni

Particle

ni (Basahan spelling ᜈᜒ)

1. of; possessive particle, used only with personal names

   bisikleta ni Juan ― Juan's bicycle

Related terms

• ni isay

Chungli Ao

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni˩/, [ni˩]

Pronoun

ni

1. I, me (first person pronoun)

Further reading

• Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, page 10
• A. R. Coupe (2007), A grammar of Mongsen Ao, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 89

Cornish

Alternative forms

• (Revived Late Cornish) nei

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *snīs. Cognate with Breton ne and Welsh ni.

Pronoun

ni

1. we (1st person plural subject pronoun)

   Ni a welas.

   We saw.

2. our, us (1st person plural enclitic pronoun, used to reinforce previous pronoun)

   agan lyver ni

   our book

   Ple ethen ni?

   Where did we go?

See also

Cornish personal pronouns

number	person		independent (subject)	suffixed			infixed	possessive (dependent)
				enclitic	emphatic	reduced
singular	first		my	vy	evy	ma, a	'm	owA
	second		ty	jy, sy1	tejy	ta, a	'thM	dhaS
	third2	m	ev	ev	eev	va, a	'n	yS
		f	hi	hi	hyhi	—	's	hyA
plural	first		ni	ni	nyni		'gan, 'n	agan, 'gan
	second3		hwi	hwi	hwyhwi		'gas, 's	agas, 'gas
	third		i	i	ynsi		's	agaA, 'gaA

¹ Uncommon.
² hun and ins have been suggested as non-binary 3rd person singular pronouns, though these have not yet officially adopted.
³ Infrequently used as a formal alternative to the singular.

^S Triggers soft mutation ^A Triggers aspirate mutation ^M Triggers mixed mutation

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɲɪ]
• Hyphenation: ni

Pronoun

ni f

1. alternative form of ji (prepositional)

   Pamatujeme si na ni.

   We remember her.

Danish

Danish numbers ^(edit)

	90
←  8	9	10  →
Cardinal: ni     Ordinal: niende
Danish Wikipedia article on 9

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥

Proto-Germanic *newunt

Proto-Germanic *newun

Proto-Norse ᚾᛁᚢ (niu)

Old Norse níu

Danish ni

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niː/, [niːˀ]

Numeral

ni

1. nine

Dena'ina

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *nuˑ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Noun

ni

1. island, river island

References

• Kari, James (2013), Denaʼina Topical Dictionary, Revised Edition, Alaska Native Language Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks, page 139

Drung

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k).

Noun

ni

1. day

References

• Ross Perlin (2019), A Grammar of Trung‎^[8], Santa Barbara: University of California

Dumbea

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Pronoun

ni

1. they

References

• 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

Determiner

ni

1. this.

Pronoun

ni

1. this.

Esperanto

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: ni

Pronoun

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

Esperanto personal pronouns

		singular				plural
		nominative	accusative	possessive		nominative	accusative	possessive
first person		mi	min	mia		ni	nin	nia
second person	formal	vi	vin	via		vi	vin	via
	familiar1	ci	cin	cia
third person	masculine	li	lin	lia		ili iŝi2	ilin iŝin2	ilia iŝia2
	feminine	ŝi	ŝin	ŝia
	neuter	ĝi	ĝin	ĝia
	gender-neutral2	ri ŝli	rin ŝlin	ria ŝlia
	reflexive	si	sin	sia		si	sin	sia
indefinite		oni	onin	onia		oni	onin	onia

¹ Rare.

² Not widely used.

Further reading

• “ni”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “ni”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

Fijian

Etymology

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

Particle

ni

1. of (genitive particle linking nouns)

   na mata ni siga ― the sun (literally, “eye of [the] day”)

   vunikau ― tree (literally, “plant of wood”)

2. for (marking purpose or intended use)

   bilo ni ti ― teacup (literally, “cup for tea”)

   tavaya ni bia ― beer bottle (literally, “bottle for beer”)

Usage notes

Sometimes abbreviated to i, as in the names of lunar months: vulaidoi (month of doi, when the doi tree flowers, approximately May).

Compare bilo ni ti (“teacup”, literally “cup for tea”) with bilo ti (“cup of tea”).

Conjunction

ni

1. that (introducing a clause following a verb)

   E kaya ni tayabe oqo e baleta na lotu.

   He says that this march is for the church.

   Au kila ni sa cala ko koya.

   I know that s/he is wrong.

2. because, since, for

   Keimami na sega ni vukei iko ni keimami kusa tiko.

   We will not help you because we are in a hurry.

   Au sa malumalumu mai, niu sa qase.

   I have become weak because I am old.

3. when

   Ni sa caka oti, tukuna vei au.

   When it is done, tell me.

   Ni bera ni oti.

   Before it is finished.

Usage notes

When ni is followed by the pronoun au (“I”), they contract to niu.

Particle

ni

1. particle following sega (“not”) to form negation

   E sega ni rawa.

   It is not possible.

   E sega ni cakava.

   S/he did not do it.

Pronoun

ni

1. you (second person plural, or honorific singular/plural, as subject of the verb)

   Ni bula saka!

   Good day, sir/madam!

   Ni vosota.

   Forgive me; excuse me.

Usage notes

May be preceded by ko or o at the beginning of a sentence. As the object of a verb, this becomes kemuni.

See also

• kemuni (“you (object form)”)

References

• Gatty, Ronald (2009), “ni”, in Fijian–English Dictionary‎^[9], Suva, Fiji: Ronald Gatty, →ISBN, page 181

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Conjunction

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]‎^[10]:

     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

• 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

• ni chair ni poisson
• ni oui ni non
• ni plus ni moins
• ni vu ni connu

See also

• soit

Further reading

• “ni”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Gothic

Romanization

ni

1. romanization of 𐌽𐌹

Hanunoo

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Preposition

ni (Hanunoo spelling ᜨᜲ)

1. of; by

   ti luka ni Bado ― lime tube of Bado

   Kinaon ni Bado ti burot.

   The wild yam was eaten by Bado.

See also

• si

Further reading

• 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

Alternative forms

• níi

Etymology

From Proto-Chadic *ʔanī, from earlier *ʔan-yi, from Proto-Afroasiatic *yi (“me”), not from *ʔanāku (“I”). Compare Proto-Cushitic *ʔani. Cognate with Gwandara ani.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /níː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [níː]

Pronoun

nī

1. I (1st person singular pronoun)

See also

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

Hausa personal pronouns

independent pronouns
		singular	plural
1st person		nī	mū
2nd person	m	kai	kū
	f	kē
3rd person	m	shī	sū
	f	ita
direct object pronouns*
		singular	plural
1st person		ni	mu
2nd person	m	ka	ku
	f	ki
3rd person	m	shi	su
	f	ta
indirect object pronouns
		singular	plural
1st person		minì	manà
2nd person	m	makà	mukù
	f	mikì
3rd person	m	masà	musù
	f	matà

* The default tone of the direct object pronouns is high, but it usually changes to low immediately after a high tone, unless that high tone is part of a verb with a high-low-high pattern.

---

See also the Hausa possessive pronouns.

Humene

Noun

ni

1. name

References

• ASJP: Dutton 1970

Hungarian

Etymology

Native word of debated origin:

• Shortened from nézd (“look!”) ~ nízd (a dialectal variant).
• An onomatopoeia expressing astonishment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈni]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ni

Interjection

ni

1. (colloquial) lo!, look!

   Itt van ni! ― Look! Here it is!

Usage notes

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

Further reading

• ni in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Idi

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• Idi Organised Phonology Data

Ido

Pronoun

ni

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

Indonesian

Determiner

ni

1. (colloquial) apheretic form of ini

Ingrian

Pronunciation

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈni/, [ˈni]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈni/, [ˈni]
• Rhymes: -i
• Hyphenation: ni

Conjunction

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

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

Interlingua

Alternative forms

• nec

Etymology

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

Adverb

ni

1. and not.

   Io non sape, ni vole saper ― I don’t know, and I don’t want to know

2. Neither, nor.

   Illo ni me place ni displace ― It neither pleases me nor displeases me

3. And, or (following a "with no" or "without").

   Nos debe resister sin aqua ni alimento ― We must resist with no water or food

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Blend of no +‎ sì.

Adverb

ni

1. (informal) neither yes nor no

Etymology 2

Noun

ni m or f (invariable)

1. nu (Greek letter)

Anagrams

• in, in-

Japanese

Romanization

ni

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

Kamano

Alternative forms

• nina

Noun

ni

1. water

References

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

Kansa

Etymology

From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (“water”).

Noun

ni

1. water
2. any liquid
3. river

References

• Kansa dictionary
• Quapaw dictionary, in notes: "ni (ni) - water, river, liquid (Kanza)"

Kapampangan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish ni (“not even”), from Old Spanish nin, from Latin nec, apocopated form of neque.

Conjunction

ni

1. neither; nor

   Synonyms: ke, kesyo

   Niyakupin alikuman mekapangan.

   Even I did not eat anything.

   Nimangalinguwan nitabili, aliku.

   Neither moving on nor letting go, I can't.

See also

• agyang
• ambaski
• ambus
• man
• mo

Adverb

ni

1. not even

   Synonym: agyang

   Alakung inyad ninanuman.

   I did not even ask for anything.

Kedah Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Determiner

ni

1. this

Kelantan Peranakan Hokkien

Etymology

From Pattani Malay ni.

Determiner

ni

1. this

Further reading

• Mohd Nor, M. R.; Hasan, H. (2010), “Kebolehan Bahasa Masyarakat Cina Peranakan Kelantan”, in Jurnal Usuluddin‎^[11], volume 31, page 125

Klao

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• World Lexicon of Grammaticalization (2002, →ISBN)

Laboya

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [niː]

Noun

ni

1. coconut

References

• Allahverdi Verdizade (2019), “ni”, in Lamboya word list‎^[12], Leiden: LexiRumah

Latin

Etymology

From Old Latin nei, from Proto-Italic *nei, from Proto-Indo-European *néy (“not”), from *né. Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌹 (nei), Lithuanian nei, Old Church Slavonic ни (ni), Old Irish ní and Sanskrit न (ná). See also nē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈniː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈniː]

Adverb

nī (not comparable)

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

Derived terms

• quid nī? (why not?)
• nīmīrum (not wonderful)
• nisi

Conjunction

nī

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

Etymology

From Latin nec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Conjunction

ni

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

Livonian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni/, [ˈni]

Adverb

ni

1. now

References

• Tiit-Rein Viitso; Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), “ni”, in Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz [Livonian-Estonian-Latvian Dictionary]‎^[13] (in Estonian and Latvian), Tartu, Rīga: Tartu Ülikool, Latviešu valodas aģentūra

Lolopo

Etymology

From Proto-Loloish *(ʔ)-ne¹, from Proto-Lolo-Burmese *ʔnəj¹/³, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k) (“sun; day”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni³³]

Noun

ni

1. (Yao'an) day

References

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

Lower Tanana

Etymology

Cognate with Ahtna nii. Suppletive forms of this root appear in the paradigm for the root lok, yok.

Root

ni

1. to say, deem

Stem set

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Durative	ni	ni'	niɬ	ni'
Durative (d-effect)	di	di'	dì	di'
Neuter	ni	ni'	niɬ	ni'
Neuter negative	neh	—	—	—
Customary	niyh	niyh	niyh	niyh

Derived terms

• chononelni (“he/she has hunting luck”)
• chononi (“hunting luck”)
• dedi (“it is said”)
• dedinenh (“the one speaking”)
• delbidza, bis niyi (“spotted sandpiper”)
• dexbaba' niyi (“olive-sided flycatcher”)
• di (“S says”)
• jeth niya (“yellowlegs”)
• yeɬni (“he/she says to him/her”)

References

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, pages 315-317

Luxembourgish

Etymology

Borrowed from German nie, from Middle High German nie, from Old High German nio. The expected Luxembourgish form would be *néi. Ni could only be explained as a generalized unstressed form, which is already implausible because this adverb is often stressed. The Rheinisches Wörterbuch (N = anno 1941) considers the word non-native throughout Central Franconian and says that nie was at that time still missing in a majority of dialects.

For Luxembourgish specifically, the Lexikon der Luxemburger Umgangssprache (1847) gives only kees. The Wörterbuch der Luxemburgischen Mundart (1906) gives kees, keemol, keemools and ni (but not yet nimools). The Luxemburger Wörterbuch (N = anno 1965) gives all forms and already labels kees dated or regional.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [niː]

Adverb

ni

1. never

   Synonyms: nimools; keemol, keemools, (dated) kees

Ma'di

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nɨ̀]
• Hyphenation: ni

Particle

nĩ

1. Used to mark focus on a third-person subject.

References

• Mairi Blackings; Nigel Fabb (2003), A Grammar of Ma'di, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 24

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/
• Rhymes: -ni, -i

Determiner

ni (Jawi spelling ني)

1. colloquial form of ini

Pronoun

ni (Jawi spelling ني)

1. colloquial form of ini

Mandarin

Romanization

ni

1. nonstandard spelling of nī
2. nonstandard spelling of ní
3. nonstandard spelling of nǐ
4. nonstandard spelling of nì

Usage notes

• 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

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (phonetics) IPA^(key): [nʲi]
• (phonemic) IPA^(key): /nʲij/
• Bender phonemes: {niy}

Noun

ni

1. coconut tree

Related terms

• iu (coconut)

References

• Abo, Takaji; Bender Byron W.; Capelle, Alfred; DeBrum, Tony (2009–), “ni”, in Marshallese–English Online Dictionary‎^[14]

Mbonga

Numeral

ni

1. four

References

• Christopher R. Green, Jarawan Numerals: Implications for History and Internal Classification, in Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 64, no. 1/2 (2022)

Middle English

Adverb

ni

1. alternative form of ne

Conjunction

ni

1. alternative form of ne

Middle Irish

Particle

ni

1. alternative spelling of ní

Mizo

Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *nii (“sun; day”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k) (“sun; day”).

Noun

ni

1. sun
2. day
3. time

Derived terms

• Chawlhni
• Inrinni
• Nilaini
• nimin
• Ningani
• Pathianni
• Thawhlehni
• Thawhṭanni
• Zirtâwpni

Etymology 2

Noun

ni

1. aunt

Etymology 3

This copula is ultimately from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ni (copula). It has ceased to be used as a copula in all other Kuki-Chin languages except Koireng. It only survives repurposed in some other Kuki-Chin languages, for instance in Tedim and Monsang in suffixes that form the future tense.

Verb

ni (stem II nih)

1. to be

Usage notes

This is the main copular verb in Mizo, coexisting with the existential verb awm.

Derived terms

• a nih leh

References

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “ni”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

Mohegan-Pequot

Pronoun

ni (first person singular)

1. singular first-person pronoun I

Mokilese

Etymology

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

Noun

ni

1. coconut tree

Derived terms

• ni pwespwes
• ni rei
• ni roam
• ni soal
• ni wahssa

References

• Harrison, Sheldon P.; Albert, Salich Y. (1977), Mokilese-English Dictionary‎^[15], Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 170

Navajo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɪ̀/

Pronoun

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

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

Navajo personal pronouns

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

Naxi

Etymology 1

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-ŋja.

Noun

ni

1. fish

Etymology 2

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kV-ni-s.

Numeral

ni

1. two

References

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

Ningil

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• 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

Norwegian Bokmål cardinal numbers

<  8	9	10  >
Cardinal : ni     Ordinal : niende

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Numeral

ni

1. nine

Derived terms

• førtini
• nittini

Related terms

• niende

References

• “ni” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk cardinal numbers

<  8	9	10  >
Cardinal : ni     Ordinal : niande

Alternative forms

• nio, nie (dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse níu.

Numeral

ni

1. nine

Derived terms

• førtini
• nittini

References

• “ni” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Nutabe

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• 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 Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈɲi/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈɲi/

Pronoun

ni

1. dual accusative of oně

Old High German

Alternative forms

• ne

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Particle

ni

1. not

Derived terms

• nein

Descendants

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

Old Irish

Particle

ni

1. alternative spelling of ní

Omaha-Ponca

Etymology

From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́• (“water”).

Noun

ni

1. water

References

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

Palula

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Determiner

ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

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

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[16], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 2

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Determiner

ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

1. these (agr: prox)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[17], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 3

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Pronoun

ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

1. it
2. she (prox fem nom)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[18], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Etymology 4

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Pronoun

ni (demonstrative, Perso-Arabic spelling نیۡ)

1. they (prox nom)

References

• Henrik Liljegren; Naseem Haider (2011), “ni”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎^[19], Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN

Pattani Malay

Alternative forms

• ning, nih

Determiner

ni

1. this

Polish

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈɲi/

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Biecz) IPA^(key): [ˈɲi]
  • (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈɲi]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: ni
• Homophone: -ni

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ney

Proto-Balto-Slavic *nei

Proto-Slavic *ni

Polish ni

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni.

Conjunction

ni

1. (archaic or dialectal, Biecz, Ropczyce) synonym of ani

Derived terms

• ni pies, ni wydra
• ni tak, ni siak
• ni to, ni sio

Etymology 2

See nie.

Particle

ni

1. (dialectal, Przemyśl) alternative form of nie

Etymology 3

See ny.

Noun

ni n (indeclinable)

1. alternative form of ny

Further reading

• “ni”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[20] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “ni”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[21] (in Polish)
• Aleksander Saloni (1899), “ni”, in “Lud wiejski w okolicy Przeworska”, in M. Arct, E. Lubowski, editors, Wisła : miesięcznik gieograficzno-etnograficzny‎^[22] (in Polish), volume 13, Warsaw: Artur Gruszecki, page 241
• Jan Karłowicz (1900), “ani”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: A do E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 14

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Ancient Greek νῦ (nû).

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈni/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈni/

• Hyphenation: ni

Noun

ni m (plural nis)

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

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Likely from the common contractions na and no, by association or as a neuter form. Alternatively, from a reduction of em.

An origin through inversion of Latin in is very unlikely.

Alternative forms

• ne (rare, prescriptive)

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ni/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ni/

Preposition

ni

1. (Brazil, nonstandard, originally rural) alternative form of em (“in, on, at”)

   Vem ni mim, feioso! ― Come at me, uggo!

   A mão dele relou ni ocê sim, tá pego! ― His hand just barely touched you, you're it now! (literally, “His hand did touch on you, you're it!”)

Usage notes

It is used exactly like em and combines into the same forms. See usage notes at em for a full table.

Further reading

• “ni”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ni”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “ni”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Potawatomi

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Determiner

ni

1. medial demonstrative determiner:
   1. animate obviative
   2. inanimate plural

Usage notes

Usually also implies definiteness e.g. ni odanen (“the towns”)

Pronoun

ni

1. medial demonstrative pronoun:
   1. animate obviative
   2. inanimate plural

See also

Potawatomi demonstrative pronouns

	animate				inanimate
	proximate		obviative
	singular	plural			singular	plural
proximal	ode	gode	node		ode	node
medial	o	ki	ni		i	ni
distal	ago	égi	éni		é'i	éni

References

• “ni”, in Online Potawatomi Dictionary‎^[23], Citizen Potawatomi Nation, 2026
• Lockwood, Hunter Thompson (2017), How the Potawatomi Language Lives: A Grammar of Potawatomi (PhD dissertation)‎^[24], Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison, page 57

Proto-Norse

Romanization

ni

1. romanization of ᚾᛁ

Quapaw

Alternative forms

• nį, nnį

Etymology

From Proto-Siouan *wa-rį́· (“water”).

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma (2017–), English to Quapaw Dictionary‎^[25]

Further reading

• Rankin, Robert L. (1982), “A Quapaw Vocabulary”, in Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics‎^[26], volume 7, The University of Kansas, page 134 of 125–152

Rawang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni˧/

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• vni

Verb

ni

1. to pour; to water.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• vni

Noun

ni

1. headhair.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k). Cognate with Burmese နေ (ne) and နေ့ (ne.), Old Chinese 日 (*njiɡ).

Noun

ni

1. day (24 hour).

See also

• yáng (“daytime”)

Réunion Creole French

Pronoun

ni

1. we (first-person plural subject pronoun)

   Synonyms: nou, na

Usage notes

• Used before a verb (except the copula) in the present tense, the imperfect, and the future tense.

References

• Armand, Alain (1987), Dictionnaire Kréol rénioné/Français [Reunionese Creole-French Dictionary] (in French), Océan Éditions, →ISBN, page 247, XII

Romanian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin.

Pronoun

ni

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

Usage notes

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

• li
• vi

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hungarian ni.

Interjection

ni

1. (Transylvania) lo!, look!, behold!

   Ni la el! ― Look at him!

Samoan

Article

ni

1. some (plural indefinite article)

References

• Milner, G.B. (1993), Samoan Dictionary, Auckland: Polynesian Press, →ISBN, page 156

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

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

Particle

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

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)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ny.

Alternative forms

• nam (standard)
• nas (standard)

Pronoun

ni ? (Cyrillic spelling ни)

1. (Torlakian, Montenegro) us (short dative plural of ja (“I”))

   Da ni dádeš leb. ― Give us bread.

2. (Torlakian) us (short accusative plural of ja (“I”))

   Synonym: ne

Usage notes

• Not all forms of Torlakian use the pronoun ni in the accusative, some instead use ne. The clitic dative forms in the plural correspond to the Old Church Slavonic вꙑ (vy) and Old Church Slavonic нꙑ (ny). However, it has primarily been attested in rural areas, most notably across Montenegro and Torlak regions, where it has been preserved and is still in use. Cognates include Bulgarian ви (vi) and Bulgarian ни (ni), where it has been preserved even in the accusative case.

References

• Ljubisav Ćirić, Govori Ponišavlja, Institut za srpski jezik SANU, Beograd, 1999. page 127
• Momčilo Zlatanović, Rečnik govora juga Srbije (provincijalizmi, dijalektizmi, varvarizmi i. dr.), Vranje, 2011.

Sicilian

Alternative forms

• nni

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]
• (unstressed) IPA^(key): [nɪ]

Pronoun

ni

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

Inflection

nominative	nuàutri
prepositional	nuàutri
accusative	ni
dative	ni
reflexive	ni
possessive	nostru

See also

• nuàutri
• vi

Siraya

Etymology

Borrowed from Hokkien ni.

Noun

ni

1. year

References

• Li, Jen-Kuei (2010), “ni”, in 新港文書研究 [Studies of Sinkang Manuscripts] (in Chinese), Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica, →ISBN, page 29

Slovene

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nìː/

Verb

ní

1. negative third-person singular present of bíti

Spanish

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish nin, from Latin nec, apocopated form of neque, from Proto-Indo-European *nekʷe (“and not, neither, nor”), from *né (“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

ni

1. Used when negating two or more elements, and not, not A or B, not A nor B, neither A nor B

   No es (ni) A ni B. ― It's neither A nor B.

   No es (ni) A, ni B ni C.

   It's not A, B, or C. / It's neither A, nor B, nor C.

   Ni A ni B es. [The first ni is mandatory here because the verb es isn't before it. Es can't be preceded by no in this example for the same reason.]

   It's neither A nor B.

   Ni es A ni (es) B. [The first ni is mandatory because there isn't a verb es before it.]

   It's neither A nor B.

   • 2026 April 23, AVIS93, r/VideojuegosMX‎^[27] (Reddit post):

     No va a haber juegos AAA hechos en México en mucho tiempo, si es que algún día ocurre. No tenemos la industria para ello, ni la competitividad, ni el atractivo de inversión para un proyecto así. Mejor échate un clavado a ver los juegos indies nacionales que ya hay, son muchos y hay cosas bastante buenas.

     There won’t be AAA games made in Mexico for a long time, if it ever happens. We don’t have the industry for it, nor the competitiveness, nor the investment appeal for such a project. Instead check out the local indie games we already have, we have a lot of them and some are pretty good.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 April 27, tumamitax, r/chile‎^[28] (Reddit post):

     hay una diferencia entre ser nini (parásito ql que ni estudia ni trabaja) a que el contexto socioeconómico haga imposible que aunque trabajes full-time no puedas comprar una casa en tu puta vida

     there's a difference between being a nini [= NEET] (a fucking parasite who doesn't go to school or have a job) and living in a socioeconomic context that makes it impossible to buy a house ever in your fucking life even if you work full time

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 May 8, Jessica Mouzo, “El hantavirus despierta viejos bulos y teorías conspiranoicas: ni es una nueva pandemia, ni un virus desconocido, ni se cura con zinc”, in El País‎^[29], Madrid: Ediciones El País, S.L., →ISSN:

     El hantavirus despierta viejos bulos y teorías conspiranoicas: ni es una nueva pandemia, ni un virus desconocido, ni se cura con zinc.

     The hantavirus revives old hoaxes and conspiracy theories: it is neither a new pandemic, nor an unknown virus, nor is it cured with zinc.

Derived terms

• ni chicha ni limonada
• ni come, ni deja comer
• ni corto ni perezoso
• ni fu ni fa
• ni grado ni gracias
• 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
• nini
• no dejar verde ni seco
• no ni na
• sin chistar ni mistar
• sin oficio ni beneficio
• sin pena ni gloria
• sin pies ni cabeza
• sin tripas ni cuajar

Adverb

ni

1. Used in emphatic negations, not even

   Synonym: ni siquiera

   No tengo ni tiempo. ― I don't even have *time*.

   Ni *tiempo* tengo. [Like in the example in the conjunction sense, the verb isn't negated.]

   I don't even have *time*.

   Ni tengo tiempo. ― I don't even have time.

   Ni yo tengo tiempo. ― Not even I have time.

   Yo tiempo ni tengo. ― *I* don't even *have* time.

   • 2026 February 25, ferreyran134, r/dankgentina‎^[30] (Reddit post):

     Lo piola de conseguir laburo es que nunca me entero [de] nada de gh por [que] directamente ni tiempo tengo para verlo

     The cool thing about getting a job is that I never know what's happening on GH [Gran Hermano = Big Brother] because I straight up don't even have time to watch it [Note that here ni is emphasizing tiempo and not tengo, but that doesn't sound natural in English]

     (Can we archive this URL?)

   • 2026 April 29, Crow-Servant, r/VideojuegosMX‎^[31] (Reddit post):

     Ni así, si [tu] juego físico necesita una descarga también vale madres, porque solo te vendieron la key de la licencia en formato físico

     Not even then, if your physical game needs a download it still doesn't matter, because they only sold you the license key in physical form.

     (Can we archive this URL?)

2. (with the subjunctive) Forms an emphatic negative imperative, don't even

   ¡Ni te atrevas! ― Don't you (even) dare!

   Ni lo pienses. ― Don't even think about it.

Derived terms

• 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 cagando
• ni con mucho
• 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 lo pienses
• ni madres, ni madre
• ni media palabra
• ni modo
• ni modo que
• ni mu
• ni mucho menos
• ni muerto
• ni palabra
• ni papa
• ni pensarlo
• ni pío
• ni pizca
• ni por asomo
• ni por esas
• ni por imaginación
• ni por soñación
• ni por un cristo
• ni puta
• ni puta idea
• 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 alma
• ni un pelo
• no tener ni idea
• ya ni la friegas

Etymology 2

Noun

ni f (plural níes)

1. nu; the Greek letter Ν, ν

   Synonym: ny

Further reading

• “ni”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

Swahili

Other scripts
Ajami	نِـ

Etymology

The use as a focus marker is original. This then acquired a presentative meaning (“it is”), which was finally reanalyzed as a copula. Cognate with Chichewa ndi.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Particle

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

ni

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

Swedish

Etymology

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 *yúHs. Compare Danish I.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /niː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Pronoun

ni

1. you (plural subjective case)

   Du är bara en person, men ni där borta är fyra personer

   You are just one person, but you / you guys / [except not in tone] y'all over there are four people

   Ni två är här, så jag ser er

   You [subject] two are here, so I see you [object]

2. you (second-person singular subjective formal) (capitalized Ni, rare in contemporary Swedish)
   1. (historical) A title used when addressing a person, chiefly of lower social rank, or a person of the opposite sex, especially among young people.

      –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. (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?

      Would you like a bag with your purchase?

Usage notes

Both ni and er are second person plural forms, but can also be used as a formal second person singular pronoun, like German Sie and French vous. They may sometimes be capitalized as Ni and Er. The courteous ni was promoted around the year 1900 as an alternative to a complicated system of addressing people in the third person singular by their appropriate titles, which required knowledge of personal information like social status, occupation, and education, with terms like fru (“Mrs.”) or fröken (“Ms.”), greve (“count”), kamrer (“accountant”), and kandidat (“bachelor's degree holder”). However, this "ni-reform" was not well-liked, and ni mostly came to be used to address subordinates, with titles still being used to address superiors and other people "deemed worthy of a title," leading to ni acquiring a condescending tone. 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 acquired the condescending tone of ni. Titles and polite pronouns were gradually phased out during the 1960s and 1970s in the so-called du-reformen ("the you-reform"). In contemporary Swedish, du is used to address anyone regardless of differences in age or social status, with a few rare exceptions like royalty.

Ni is occasionally used as polite address for customers by younger speakers, but this is often considered overly formal and a bit contrived, and may also come across as condescending, especially to old speakers. Politeness in contemporary Swedish is not conveyed through polite pronouns, but through polite phrases and indirectness, for example.

Examples of the old system in vigorous use can be found in old novels and movies – for example Åsa-Nisse movies.

Declension

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

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

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

• I

See also

• du (“you (singular subjective case)”)
• duskål

References

• “ni”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “ni”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “ni”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• in

Tagalog

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ni/ [n̪ɪ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -i
• Syllabification: ni

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Austronesian *ni

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ni

Tagalog ni

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ni, from Proto-Austronesian *ni.

Preposition

ni (plural nina, Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ)

1. of; possessive particle

   bisikleta ni Juan ― Juan's bicycle

2. objective marker for personal names, objective form of si; functional equivalent of ng

Usage notes

• Used only with personal names.

Derived terms

• ani

See also

Tagalog markers

		pivot1 (ang)	non-pivot1
			core (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

¹ Also known as the direct or focus.

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *né

Proto-Indo-European *-kʷe

Proto-Indo-European *nékʷe

Proto-Italic *nekʷe

Latin neque

Latin nec

Old Spanish nin

Spanish nibor.

Tagalog ni

Borrowed from Spanish ni, from Old Spanish nin, from Latin nec, apocopated form of neque, from Proto-Italic *nekʷe, from Proto-Indo-European *nékʷe, from *né + *-kʷe.

Conjunction

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.

Related terms

• ni ultimo

See also

• kahit
• man

Adverb

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

• -in, -in-, in-

Tarifit

Root
n-y
1 term

Alternative forms

• ney

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ănǝy.

Pronunciation

• (Nador) IPA^(key): [nɪ]
• Syllabification: ni
• Rhymes: -ɪ

Verb

ni (verbal noun tnaca or tnaya, Tifinagh spelling ⵏⵉ) (intransitive)

1. to mount (an animal)
2. to get in, to board (a vehicle)
3. (stative) to be perched

Conjugation

Conjugation of ni

aorist perfective negative perfective imperfective negative imperfective participle yenyen yenyin yenyin yennayen yenniyen singular plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person aorist m nyeɣ tenyed ini nni tenyem nyen f tni tenyent nyent perfective m nyiɣ tenyid yenya nenya tenyim nyin f tenya tenyint nyint negative perfective m nyiɣ tenyid yenyi nenyi tenyim nyin f tenyi tenyint nyint imperfective m nnayeɣ tennayed yennay nennay tennayem nnayen f tennay tennayent nnayent negative imperfective m nniyeɣ tenniyed yenniy nenniy tenniyem nniyen f tenniy tenniyent nniyent aorist imperative m ni nyem, nyet f nyent imperfective imperative m nnay nnayem, nnayet f nnayent injunctive m nenyet f nenyent

References

• Serhoual (2002)
• Abarrou (2024)

Tashelhit

Alternative forms

• ini

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Berber *ănǝy (“to ride, mount”). Cognate with Zenaga yänig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Verb

ni (imperfective ttnay, verbal noun tanaka, Tifinagh spelling ⵏⵉ, Arabic spelling ني) (intransitive)

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

Derived terms

• amnay (“rider; cavalier, knight”)
• sni (“to help someone mount; to assemble a rifle”)
• tanaka (“mounting”)

References

• DBTF, vol. III, page 1802a

Tokelauan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]
• Hyphenation: ni

Etymology 1

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

Article

ni

1. Plural indefinite article; any

See also

Tokelauan articles

impersonal
	singular	plural
definite	te	nā
indefinite	he	ni
personal
	nominal	pronominal
simple	ia
after i/ki	a	a te
after mai	ia te

Etymology 2

Particle

ni

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

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986), Tokelau Dictionary‎^[32], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 250

Unami

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Pronoun

ni

1. I

Ura (Vanuatu)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/, [ni]

Noun

ni

1. tree

Further reading

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

Uzbek

Particle

Other scripts

Arabic (Afghan Uzbek)		—
Cyrillic		ни
Latin		—

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Russian ни (ni).

Determiner

ni

1. not, not a, no

Inflection

Not inflected.

Conjunction

ni ... ni

1. neither ... nor

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007), “ни”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[33], Petrozavodsk: Periodika

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ni˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [nɪj˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [nɪj˧˧]

Etymology 1

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.

Determiner

ni

1. (Central Vietnam) this

Adverb

ni

1. (Central Vietnam) now

See also

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 nì này/nầy nây ní nấy nớ nọ (nó) 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 (cơ) kìa (cờ) Central tê 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 cơ/cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa cơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943) and their (pretty much) obligatory use when locating an object: Không phải cái này mà là cái kia. ("Not this one, that one.")

Etymology 2

Noun

ni • (伲)

1. (obsolete in isolation) yardstick; point of reference

Derived terms

• đo ni đóng giày

Etymology 3

Romanization

ni

1. Sino-Vietnamese reading of 尼 (“Buddhist nun”)

Derived terms

• ni cô
• ni sư
• tì kheo ni

Anagrams

• in

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niː/
• Rhymes: -iː

Etymology 1

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

Pronoun

ni

1. us; we

Etymology 2

From Middle Welsh ny, from Proto-Brythonic *ni, from Proto-Celtic *nīs, from Proto-Indo-European *ne h₁ésti (“is not”).

Adverb

ni (triggers mixed mutation)

1. (literary) not
   • 2004, Beibl Cymraeg Newydd Diwygiedig‎^[34], 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

• 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”).

See also

• dim (“not”) (colloquial)

West Makian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n̪i/

Pronoun

ni (possessive prefix ni)

1. second-person singular pronoun, you

See also

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

• Clemens Voorhoeve (1982), The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[35], Pacific linguistics

Wutunhua

Etymology

From Mandarin 你 (nǐ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [n̪i]

Pronoun

ni

1. you (second-person subject pronoun)

See also

Wutunhua personal pronouns

	singular		paucal	collective
	subjective	objective
first person	ngu	nga	ngu-jhege	nga-mu
second person	ni	nia	ni-jhege	ni-mu
third person	gu		gu-jhege	gu-mu

Yil

Noun

ni

1. water

References

• 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

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ́/

Noun

ní

1. The name of the Latin script letter N/n.

See also

• (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

Alternative forms

• nẹ́ (Ondo, Ikalẹ)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ́/

Verb

ní

1. (transitive) to have

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ́/

Preposition

ní

1. at, in (used when no movement is implied)
2. preposition used for creating adverbials

Derived terms

• 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

• sí

Etymology 4

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ́/

Verb

ní

1. (intransitive) to say

See also

• sọ
• wí

Etymology 5

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ̄/

Verb

ni

1. (transitive) to be (to have a quality or identification)

Usage notes

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

• jẹ́
• wà

Etymology 6

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nĩ̄/

Verb

ni

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

Derived terms

• níni

Zou

Etymology 1

Ni.

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *nii, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ku-ni(k).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nī]
• Hyphenation: ni

Noun

ni

1. sun

Derived terms

• Ningani

Etymology 2

Zou cardinal numbers

<  1	2	3  >
Cardinal : nì     Ordinal : nìna

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *ni, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *kV-ni-s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nì]
• Hyphenation: ni

Numeral

nì

1. two

References

• Philip Thangliènmâng (2010), Minimal dictionary and Self-tutor Functional Grammar in Zo-English-Hindi, New Delhi: Zoculsin, →ISBN, page 10
• Lukram Himmat Singh (2013), A Descriptive Grammar of Zou (PhD thesis), Canchipur: Manipur University, page 40

Zulu

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

-ni^?

1. what (kind of)

Inflection

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

-ni

1. Combining stem of nina.

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “-ni”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ni”