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Chinese
Etymology
Orthographic borrowing from Japanese possessive marker の (no).
Pronunciation 1
Particle
の
- Nonstandard form of 的.
Pronunciation 2
Particle
の
Usage notes
Not used in running Chinese text in any region. It may be used as a shorthand, or to achieve visual, Japanese-style effect such as on signs, book titles, pamphlet covers or signboards, similar to faux Cyrillic.
Japanese
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Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 乃 in the cursive sōsho style.
Syllable
- The hiragana syllable の (no). Its equivalent in katakana is ノ (no). It is the twenty-fifth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is な行お段 (na-gyō o-dan, “row na, section o”).
See also
- (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こ𛄲 (𛄲)ご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, 𛀆, ゆゅ, 𛀁, よょ, らら゚, りり゚, るる゚, れれ゚, ろろ゚, わゎわ゙, ゐ𛅐 (𛅐)ゐ゙, 𛄟 (𛄟), ゑ𛅑 (𛅑)ゑ゙, を𛅒 (𛅒)を゙, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ
Etymology 2
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 乃 (rare, literary) 之 (rare, literary) |
⟨no2⟩ → */nə/ → /no/
From Old Japanese の (no2), in turn from Proto-Japonic *nə. Appears in common use in the Kojiki (712 CE). Perhaps also cognate with *nə, an element found in some Old Korean place names spelled as 乃 and 仍.
May be an apophonic form of Old Japanese particle な (na). This other form also appears in a similar function. However, its usage was already restricted to certain set expressions by the time of the earliest Japanese texts in the Nara period, with no clear examples of productive use. These appears to be adjacent to the vowels /a/, /o/, or /u/, suggesting na was an assimilated version of no.
In Old Japanese, there are three particles used productively to mark one noun modifying another:
- つ (tsu), as in 沖つ島守 (oki tsu shimamori, “the caretaker or watchman of an island of the offing ”) or 黄泉つ国 (yomo tsu kuni, “the country of the underworld”).
- が (ga), as in 関ヶ原 (Sekigahara, a placename, parseable as seki “checkpoint, barrier” + ga + hara “field, plain”)
- の (no), as in 倭の一本薄 (Yamato no hitomoto susuki, “the sawtooth sedge of Yamato”, a line from one of the songs in the Kojiki)
The apophonic form な (na) persisted only as an element in certain compounds, such as 港 (minato, “harbor”, generally parsed as mi “water” + na + to “door, gate” → port, landing, harbor), or 掌 (tanagokoro, “palm of the hand”, parsed as ta “hand” + na + kokoro “heart, center”, changing to gokoro due to rendaku).
Particle
- genitive case marker
- indicates possession: of, -'s
- 私の意見 ― watashi no iken ― my opinion
- indicates identity or apposition
- 大統領のブッシュ氏 ― daitōryō no Busshu-shi ― the President, Mr. Bush
- 山田の馬鹿野郎！ ― Yamada no baka yarō! ― Yamada, you stupid jerk!
- 山田の奴 ― Yamada no yatsu ― that dude Yamada
- a noun, adverb, or phrase modifier
- 数学の分野 ― sūgaku no bun'ya ― the field of mathematics
- 緑の車 ― midori no kuruma ― green car
- 全ての商品 ― subete no shōhin ― all goods
- 母への手紙 ― haha e no tegami ― letter to mom
- indicates possession: of, -'s
- nominative case marker in a relative or subordinate clause
- 眉毛の濃い人 ― mayuge no koi hito ― a man whose eyebrow is thick
- Synonym: が (ga)
- a sentence ending that indicates emphasis or a question, depending on intonation
- 不可能じゃないの？ ― fukanō ja nai no? ― Isn't it impossible?
- 聞いてんの？ ― kiiten no? ― Are you listening?
- Nominalizes an adjective, verb, or phrase
- 1908, 夏目漱石 [Natsume Sōseki], “第一夜”, in 夢十夜 (Yume jūya):
- 食べるのが大好きだ。 ― taberu no ga daisuki da. ― I like eating very much.
- (literary) used with bare i-adjective stem
- 懐かしのうた ― natsukashi no uta ― nostalgic song
- 麗しの君 ― uruwashi no kimi ― beautiful you
Usage notes
- In senses 3 and 4, だ (da) changes to the attributive な (na) when followed by の (no).
- 可能なの? ― kanō na no? ― Is it possible?
- 色がきれいなのがいい。 ― iro ga kirei na no ga ii. ― I prefer something with a beautiful color.
- For sense 3, use of の in declarative sentences for emphasis carries a female undertone, as compared with わ (wa).
- の is sometimes weakened into ん (n) in fixed compounds, such as 桜ん坊 (sakuranbō, “Japanese cherry”) or 飴ん棒 (amenbō, “lollipop”).
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 3
| For pronunciation and definitions of の – see the following entry. | ||
| ||
| (This term, の, is the hiragana spelling of the above term.) For a list of all kanji read as の, see Category:Japanese kanji read as の.) |
Etymology 4
Readings of various kanji.
Noun
- 篦: the shaft of an arrow; Pseudosasa japonica (arrow bamboo))
- 幅, 布: a unit of measurement for cloth breadth, approximately 36 centimeters
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
- ^ Vovin, Alexander (2013) “From Koguryo to T'amna”, in Korean Linguistics, volume 15, number 2 (PDF), John Benjamins Publishing Company, , pages 222-240
Old Japanese
Etymology 1
From Proto-Japonic *nə.
Pronunciation appears to be distinct from 野 (no1, “plain, field”).
Particle
の (no2)
- genitive case marker
Derived terms
See also
Etymology 2
Readings of various kanji.
Noun
の (no1)