ní

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ni"

Bassa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ní]

Noun

ní

1. water

References

• Bassa-English Dictionary
• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Cogui

Noun

ní

1. water

References

• Grace Hensarli, The function of -ki 'switch' in Kogi

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɲiː]
• Hyphenation: ní

Pronoun

ní f

1. locative of ona

   Je v ní dobré srdce.

   In her there is a good heart.

2. alternative form of jí (prepositional)

   Podle ní nejsem dobrý člověk.

   According to her, I am not a good person.

   Díky ní jsem šťastný.

   Thanks to her, I am happy.

   Mluvím s ní.

   I am speaking with her.

Dakota

Verb

ní

1. live, be alive

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Munster) /nʲiː/, (Connacht, Ulster) /n̠ʲiː/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish ní (“something”, n of nech) conflated with a reanalysis of Old Irish aní (“that which”) as an ní (“the thing”).

Alternative forms

• nídh (dated)

Noun

ní m (genitive singular ní, nominative plural nithe or neathanna)

1. thing

   Synonym: rud

2. object
3. which (referring back to a clause) (followed by a relative clause)
   • 1939, Peig Sayers, “Inghean an Cheannaidhe”, in Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, Description d’un parler irlandais de Kerry (Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études; 270) (overall work in French), Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, page 194:

     Do bhíodar sé mhí gan fille, agus nuair a chonaic Máire an t-árthach ag teacht chun cuain, bhí sceitimíní ar a croidhe le lúthgháir agus le h-áthas, ní nárbh’ iongnadh.

     They were [away] six months without returning, and when Máire saw the vessel coming to port, her heart had raptures of gladness and joy, which was not surprising.

     (literally, “(…), a thing that was not surprising.”)

Declension

Declension of ní (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative ní nithe vocative a ní a nithe genitive ní nithe dative ní nithe forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an ní na nithe genitive an ní na nithe dative leis an ní don ní leis na nithe

Alternative plural: neathanna

Derived terms

• aon ní (“anything”)
• gach aon ní (“everything”)
• neamhní (“nothing”)
• nithiúil

Etymology 2

From Old Irish nige.

Alternative forms

• nighe (obsolete)
• níochán (Cois Fharraige)

Noun

ní f (genitive singular nite)

1. verbal noun of nigh
2. washing

Verb

ní

1. analytic present subjunctive of nigh

Etymology 3

From Old Irish ní.

Alternative forms

• cha (Ulster)
• níor (used in the past tense with regular and some irregular verbs, also the past/conditional copular form)

Particle

ní

1. not (preverbal particle)

   Ní thuigim. ― I do not understand.

   Ní dheachaigh mé ansin. ― I did not go there.

   Ní bhfaighidh siad é. ― They will not find it.

2. not (present copular form)

   Ní críonnacht creagaireacht. ― Miserliness is not thrift.

   Ní hionann iad. ― They are not the same.

   An gloine é? Ní hea. ― Is it glass? No.

Usage notes

The preverbal particle triggers lenition of a following consonant. It is not used in the past tense except for some irregular verbs. It takes the dependent form of irregular verbs. The copular form triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel.

In Kerry (at least, perhaps other dialects as well), /ɣ/ or /j/ is inserted between ní and a verb form beginning with a back or front vowel, respectively (including cases where the verb form begins with a vowel due to the lenition of f to silent fh). This can be represented by dh’ in dialectal texts, but it is not the past-tense marker do, as it used in other tenses:

• ní dh’aithníonn sí é (“she does not recognize him”) /nʲiː ɣanʲˈhiːnʲ ʃiː eː/ (standard: ní aithníonn sí é)
• ní dh’fhiafraíodar in aon chor de an raibh Gaelainn aige. (“they didn’t ask at all whether he spoke Irish”) /nʲiː jiəɾˠˈhiːd̪ˠəɾˠ ɪˈnʲeːxəɾˠ d̪ˠon ɾˠevʲ ˈɡeːlɪnʲ ɪˈɟe/ (standard: ní fhiafraíodar in aon chor de an raibh Gaeilge aige.

See also

Irish copular forms

simple copular forms
present/future		affirmative	negative	interrogative	negative interrogative
main clause		is	ní	an	nach
relative clause	direct		nach	—
	indirect	ar, arbv
other subordinate clause		gur, gurbv		an	nach
past/conditional		affirmative	negative	interrogative	negative interrogative
main clause		ba, b’v	níor, níorbhv	ar, arbhv	nár, nárbhv
relative clause	direct	ba, abv	nár, nárbhv	—
	indirect	ar, arbhv
other subordinate clause		gur, gurbhv		ar, arbhv	nár, nárbhv
present subjunctive		affirmative	negative
—		gura, gurabv	nára, nárabv
compound copular forms
base word		present/future		past/conditional
cá		cár, cárbv		cár, cárbhv
cé		cér, cérbv		cér, cérbhv
dá		—		dá mba, dá mb’v
de/do		dar, darbv		dar, darbhv
faoi		faoinar, faoinarbv		faoinar, faoinarbhv
i		inar, inarbv		inar, inarbhv
le		lenar, lenarbv		lenar, lenarbhv
má		más		má ba, má b’v
mura		mura, murabv		murar, murarbhv
ó (preposition)		ónar, ónarbv		ónar, ónarbhv
ó (conjunction)		ós		ó ba, ó b’v
trí		trínar, trínarbv		trínar, trínarbhv

^v Used before vowel sounds

Etymology 4

Verb

ní

1. alternative spelling of ghní

References

References

Further reading

• A. Palandri, Ú. Bhreathnach, M. Měchura, G. Ó Cleircín, and B. Ó Raghallaigh, (2026), “ní”, in Taisce Chanúintí na Gaeilge - Repository of Irish Dialects‎^[1] (in Irish and English), Dublin City University
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “ní”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “ní”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2026

Lakota

Adjective

ní

1. alive

Mandan

Verb

ní

1. to live

Conjugation

    Mandan conjugation of ní

	present tense	narrative	perfect tense	potential mood
1st person singular	waní'sh	waníroomako'sh	waníso'sh	waníkto'sh
2nd person singular	raní'sh	raníroomako'sh	raníso'sh	raníkto'sh
3rd person singular	ní'sh	níroomako'sh	níso'sh	níkto'sh
1st person dual	nuní'sh	nuníroomako'sh	nuníso'sh	nuníkto'sh
1st person plural	nunínito'sh	nunínitoomako'sh	nunínitso'sh	nunínistkto'sh
2nd person plural	ranínito'sh	ranínitoomako'sh	ranínitso'sh	ranínisto'sh
3rd person plural	níkere'sh	níkereroomako'sh	níkereso'sh	níkerekto'sh
	singular	plural
imperative	níta	nínista

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• ni — nonstandard

Romanization

ní (ni², Zhuyin ㄋㄧˊ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 倪
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 呢
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 坭
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 埿
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 妫
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 婗
7. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 尼
8. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 屔
9. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 怩
10. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 泥
11. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 淣
12. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 狋
13. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 猊
14. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 秜
15. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 籾
16. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 臡 / 𰯋
17. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蚭
18. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 蜺
19. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 觬
20. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 貎
21. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 跜
22. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 輗 / 𫐐
23. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 郳
24. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鈦 / 钛
25. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 霓
26. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鯓
27. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鯢 / 鲵
28. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 麑
29. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 齯 / 𫠜

Middle Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n̠ʲiː/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish ní, from Proto-Celtic *nīs (compare Welsh ni), from Proto-Indo-European *ne h₁ésti (“is not”) (compare Sanskrit न (na), Latin ne, Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni)).

Particle

ní

1. not

Quotations

• c. 1000, anonymous author, edited by Rudolf Thurneysen, Scéla Mucca Meic Dathó, Dublin: Stationery Office, published 1935, § 1, page 2, line 15:

  Mani·tucad immurgu ní din chéttadall ni·bered a n-aill.

  If, however, he did not take anything at (literally “from”) his first thrust, he did not bring the second.

Descendants

• Irish: ní

Verb

ní

1. is not, isn’t

Etymology 2

Pronoun

ní

1. something, anything

Quotations

• c. 1000, anonymous author, edited by Rudolf Thurneysen, Scéla Mucca Meic Dathó, Dublin: Stationery Office, published 1935, § 1, page 2, line 15:

  Mani·tucad immurgu ní din chéttadall ni·bered a n-aill.

  If, however, he did not take anything at (literally “from”) his first thrust, he did not bring the second.

Navajo

Etymology

From Proto-Athabaskan *(də)niˑ.

Equivalent to di- (“oral”) + ∅- (3rd person subject prefix) + -∅- (classifier) + -ní (neuter imperfective stem of the root -NIID, “to say”). Compare Lower Tanana di.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɪ́/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

ní

1. he/she says

   Dooda, dishní! ― I say no!

Usage notes

This verb is frequently used for quoted speech. To introduce quoted speech, just add the prefix á- (“thus”) to any of the forms of the verb. This modifies the meaning to something like "to say as follows" or "to say thus":

Asdzą́ą́ ání, Beeʼeldííl Dahsinilgóó deekai, ní. — That woman says, “we are going to Albuquerque,” she says.

This is a neuter verb that uses only the imperfective mode. Other modes are suppleted by the active verb niih, reproduced below for convenience.

Conjugation

Paradigm: Neuter imperfective (∅), with some irregularities.

neuter imp	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	dishní	diiʼní	dadiiʼní
2nd person	diní	dohní	dadohní
3rd person	ní		daaní
4th person	jiní		dajiní

perfective	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	dííniid	diiʼniid	dadiiʼniid
2nd person	dííníniid	dooniid	dadooniid
3rd person	dííniid		dadííniid
4th person	jidííniid		dazhdííniid

future	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	dideeshniił	didiiʼniił	dadidiiʼniił
2nd person	didííniił	didoohniił	dadidoohniił
3rd person	didooniił		dadidooniił
4th person	dizhdooniił		dazhdidooniił

iterative	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	ńdíshʼniih	ńdiiʼniih	ńdadiiʼniih
2nd person	ńdíʼniih	ńdóhʼniih	ńdadohʼniih
3rd person	ńdíʼniih		ńdadiʼniih
4th person	nízhdíʼniih		ńdazhdiʼniih

optative	singular	duoplural	plural
1st person	dóshneʼ	dooʼneʼ	dadooʼneʼ
2nd person	dóóneʼ	doohneʼ	dadoohneʼ́
3rd person	dóneʼ		dadóneʼ
4th person	jidóneʼ		dazhdóneʼ

See also

• ání
• haʼní

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈn̠ʲiː/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *nīs (compare Welsh ni), from Proto-Indo-European *ne h₁ésti (“is not”) (compare Sanskrit न (na), Latin ne, Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni)).

Particle

ní

1. not

   Synonym: nícon

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ní.

Usage notes

Followed by the dependent form of the verb, which (in Old Irish) is not subjected to nasalization or lenition mutation unless a direct object pronoun is implied. Compare:

• Ní ben inna firu ― He does not strike the men
• Ní creti a scél ― He does not believe the story

  Here the b of ben and the c of creti are unmutated.

• Ní mben ― He does not strike him
• Ní creti ― He does not believe him

  Here the b of ben and the c of creti are nasalized to mb and /ɡ/ respectively.

• Ní ben ― He does not strike it
• Ní chreti ― He does not believe it

  Here the b of ben and the c of creti are lenited to /β/ and ch respectively.

In Middle Irish increasingly, and in Modern Irish always, ní lenites the following verb.

Descendants

• Middle Irish: ní
  • Irish: ní

Verb

ní

1. is not, isn’t

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ní.

Conjugation

See relevant rows at Appendix:Old Irish conjugation of is.

Etymology 2

Pronoun

ní

1. something, anything; some, any [with di ‘of’]
2. (in a negative clause) nothing

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ní.

Declension

Case	Animate	Neuter
Nominative	nech	ní
Accusative	nech
Genitive	neich
Dative	neuch, neoch

Alternative forms

• níi

Derived terms

• na ní

Mutation

Mutation of ní

radical	lenition	nasalization
ní also nní in h-prothesis environments	ní pronounced with /nʲ-/	ní also nní

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Rawang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni˥/

Numeral

ní

1. two.

Synonyms

• shòní

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

Clipping of tằng ní, borrowed from Teochew 同年 (tâng-nî) (SV: đồng niên). Doublet of đồng niên.

Noun

ní

1. (colloquial, dated, chiefly Mekong Delta) a friend of the same age
2. (colloquial, dated, chiefly Mekong Delta, by extension) a sworn brother or sister (traditionally involving a formal oath-swearing ritual at a temple)

Derived terms

• ba ní (“Honorary uncle”)
• kết ní (“To become sworn brothers/sisters”)
• má ní (“Honorary aunt”)
• xả ní (“To breakup friendship”)

Pronoun

ní

1. (colloquial, chiefly Mekong Delta) you (used familiarly and affectionately between close friends)
2. (Internet slang, informal) you (used playfully as a term of address for anyone, regardless of age)

   Synonyms: bạn, mày, mi

Etymology 2

Pronoun

ní

1. Central Vietnam form of nấy

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.")