ни

Bulgarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Etymology 1

Pronoun

ни • (ni) (personal, possessive)

1. short form of the first-person plural pronoun in the accusative case, used as the direct object of a verb; us

   Не мисля, че ни видяха да идваме.

   Ne mislja, če ni vidjaha da idvame.

   I don't think they saw us come.

2. short form of the first-person plural pronoun in the dative case, used as the indirect object of a verb; to us, for us, us

   Бихте ли ни казали в колко часа каца самолетът?

   Bihte li ni kazali v kolko časa kaca samoletǎt?

   Could you tell us at what time the plane lands?

3. short form of the first-person plural possessive pronoun; our

   Първата ни спирка е Париж.

   Pǎrvata ni spirka e Pariž.

   Our first stop is Paris.

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *ni.

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. used for emphasis to mean 'no thing or person'; not a, not one

   Synonym: ни́то (níto)

   Не обели ни дума.

   Ne obeli ni duma.

   He didn't say a single word.

   Ни един от хората, които бях поканил, не дойде.

   Ni edin ot horata, koito bjah pokanil, ne dojde.

   Not one of the people I'd invited showed up.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. used to show that a negative statement is true of two things; neither, nor

   Synonym: ни́то (níto)

   Това е ни в клин, ни в ръкав.

   Tova e ni v klin, ni v rǎkav.

   That is neither here nor there.

   Тя ни знае, ни се интересува какво се е случило.

   Tja ni znae, ni se interesuva kakvo se e slučilo.

   She neither knows nor cares what happened.

Anagrams

• ин- (in-), ин (in)

Dungan

Etymology

Cognate to Standard Mandarin 你 (nǐ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni⁵¹/

Adjective

ни • (ni) (II)

1. you

Erzya

Etymology

From Proto-Mordvinic *ńij, inherited from Proto-Uralic *niŋä (“woman, female”). Cognates include Northern Sami njiŋŋalâs, Lule Sami niŋŋēlis, Hungarian nő, Tundra Nenets не (nye).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ни • (ńi)

1. wife

   од ни ― od ńi ― a young wife

   • 1865, Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, Das Evangelium des Matthäus ersamordwinisch, page 68:

     Ki javovi es ninze martonzo avoľ lia marto pežeteń kis i uŕvaksty ombotse langso, te pežet teji martonzo

     Anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery

Declension

References

• B. A. Serebrennikov, R. N. Buzakova, M. V. Mosin (1993) “ни”, in Эрзянь-рузонь валкс [Erzya-Russian dictionary], Moscow: Русский язык, →ISBN
• Entry #598 in Uralonet, online Uralic etymological database of the Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics.

Lezgi

Etymology

Akin to Archi ди (di).

Noun

ни • (ni)

1. a smell

Macedonian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *ni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. neither

   Synonym: ниту (nitu)

   Нема ни жена ни деца.

   Nema ni žena ni deca.

   He has neither a wife nor children.

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. not even

   Ни мајката не те сака.

   Ni majkata ne te saka.

   Not even your mother loves you.

   Не сакаше ни да се обиде.

   Ne sakaše ni da se obide.

   He didn't even want to try.

2. neither, either

   Ни јас не сакам да дојдам.

   Ni jas ne sakam da dojdam.

   I don't want to come either.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Pronoun

ни • (ni)

1. Short indirect object form of ние (nie).

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

ни • (ni) n

1. nu (Greek letter)

Nivkh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Pronoun

ни (ni)

1. I

Old Church Slavonic

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *ni (“nor, not”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *nei, from Proto-Indo-European *nei.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. not

Related terms

• не (ne)

Descendants

Russian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• audio

  (file)

• Homophone: не (ne) (when unstressed)

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old East Slavic ни (ni), from Proto-Slavic *ni.

Conjunction

ни • (ni)

1. neither, nor

   ни он, ни она́ ― ni on, ni oná ― neither he nor she

   ни ку́шает, ни спит ― ni kúšajet, ni spit ― neither eats nor sleeps

Particle

ни • (ni)

1. not a

   ни оди́н из ста ― ni odín iz sta ― not one in a hundred

2. (between a personal pronoun and the verb in the affirmative) whatever, however

   что он ни ска́жет ― što on ni skážet ― whatever he says

   как бы он ни был бога́т ― kak by on ni byl bogát ― however rich he may be

3. (before какой, кто, что) any, no

   ни в како́й кни́ге ― ni v kakój kníge ― (not) in any book, in no book

   ни на что не годи́тся ― ni na što ne godítsja ― it’s good for nothing

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Greek νι (ni).

Noun

ни • (ni) n inan (indeclinable)

1. nu (the modern Greek letter Ν/ν)

   Synonym: (ancient or modern Greek) ню (nju)

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Particle

ни (Latin spelling ni)

1. (emphasizes negation) even, either

   ни ја то не знам ― even I don't know that; I don't know that either

   нисам хт(ј)ео ни да чујем за пр(иј)едлог ― I didn't even want to listen about the proposal

Conjunction

ни (Latin spelling ni)

1. neither, nor

   она није ни паметна ни(ти) марљива ― she is neither smart nor industrious

   ни трага ни гласа о .. ― not a trace about ..

   ни крив ни дужан ― completely innocent

Tundra Nenets

Etymology 1

From Proto-Samoyedic *ni.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ни

Noun

ни • (nyi)

1. belt

Declension

Etymology 2

From Proto-Samoyedic *ńëj, from Proto-Uralic *ńële.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ни

Noun

ни • (nyi)

1. (in compounds) arrow

Declension

Derived terms

References

• Pyrerka, A. P., Tereščenko, N. M. (1948) Русско-ненецкий словарь [Russian–Nenets Dictionary], Moscow: Огиз, page 213
• N. M. Tereschenko (2005) “ни”, in Словарь ненецко-русский и русско-ненецкий, 3rd edition, Saint Petersburg: Просвещение, →ISBN