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-ni. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
-ni, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
-ni in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
-ni you have here. The definition of the word
-ni will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
-ni, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Central Nahuatl
Suffix
-ni
- Marks a verb's habitual or customary present tense.
Classical Nahuatl
Suffix
-ni
- Marks a verb's habitual or customary present tense.
Derived terms
Curripaco
Suffix
-ni
- third person singular masculine patient marker
References
- Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo, Agreement in two Arawak languages, in The Typology of Semantic Alignment (edited by Mark Donohue, Søren Wichmann) (2008, →ISBN), page 398
Finnish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *-ni, from Proto-Uralic *-ni. Originally the first-person possessive suffix for words in plural, with -mi used for singular words; the latter is now only found in dialects. Compare Erzya -м (-m).
Suffix
-ni
- (possessive) First-person singular possessive suffix used with or without minun (the genitive of the personal pronoun minä), corresponds to the English possessive pronoun my
- (minun) kirjani ― my book
- (minun) valaani ― my whale(s) (nominative singular/plural or genitive singular) / my oath (partitive or illative singular)
- (possessive) Appended to a genitive-requiring postposition that is after or without minun (the genitive of the personal pronoun minä), me
- (minun) edessäni ― in front of me
- (minun) takanani ― behind me
- (possessive) Used in a participle structure replacing an että clause, preceded by a verb expressing, e.g., telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "I"; appended to the active present participle in genitive singular when the action is concurrent with the main clause
Sanoin tekeväni läksyjäni. (similar to the Latin structure accusativus cum infinitivo, e.g. se dicit facere)- I said that I was doing my homework.
- (possessive) Used in a participle structure replacing an että clause, preceded by a verb expressing, e.g., telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "I"; appended to the active past participle in genitive singular when the said/alleged (etc.) action antedates the main clause.
Väitin tehneeni läksyjäni.- I claimed to have been doing my homework.
- (possessive) Used in a shortened sentence expressing concurrent actions when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the inessive of the active second infinitive.
Tehdessäni läksyjäni (minä) kuulin laukauksen ulkoa.- (While) doing my homework, I heard a shot from outside.
- (possessive) Used in a shortened sentence expressing subsequent actions when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the partitive of the passive past participle singular.
Tehtyäni läksyni (minä) kuulin laukauksen ulkoa.- (After) having done / After doing my homework, I heard a shot from outside.
- (possessive) Used in a final shortened sentence expressing "in order to do" when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the long first infinitive.
Tehdäkseni läksyni hyvin (minä) menin hiljaiseen huoneeseen.- (In order) to do my homework well, I went into a quiet room.
- (possessive) Used in some adverbs, when the clause has the subject "I"
Olen hyvin pahoillani siitä.- I am very sorry about it.
- (possessive) Always appended to a noun in the comitative case when the clause has the subject "I".
Kävelin kirjoineni ovesta ulos.- I walked with my books out the door.
Usage notes
- The possessive suffix -ni is compulsory in standard Finnish. In standard Finnish, when expressing ownership or before a postposition, the genitive form of the corresponding personal pronoun minä before the main word can be omitted. In colloquial Finnish, the suffix -ni is very rare and only the genitive form minun (or its colloquial or dialectal variants) is used before the main word.
- Appended to the (strong) vowel stem. The final -n of the genitive and illative singular and plural or the -t of the nominative plural are omitted, for example: talo (“house”) > taloon (“into a/the house”) > taloosi (“into your house”).
- The shortened sentences — except for the participle structures — pertain mainly to formal/standard Finnish, not to informal/colloquial Finnish. It is also to be noticed that the shortened clauses are never separated from the main clauses with a comma.
See also
Anagrams
Garo
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Suffix
-ni
- (inflectional suffix) forms the genitive case
See also
- -na (“forms dative”)
- -ko (“forms accusative”)
- -chi (“forms instrumental”)
- -no (“forms locative”)
Hungarian
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- (infinitive suffix) Forms the infinitive.
- ad (“give”) + -ni → adni (“to give”)
- Forms the concessive sense: used to devalue the predicate of the sentence when repeated and followed by a clause that contrasts with or contradicts it. See also -nak/-nek.
- Elindulni elindul, de rögtön le is áll. ― It does start, but it turns off right away.
- (somewhat dated or literary, with the omission of lehet) one can…, it is possible to…
- Innen már látni a falut. ― One can already see the village from here.
Usage notes
- (infinitive suffix) Variants:
- -ni is added to most verbs
- ad (“give”) + -ni → adni (“to give”)
- -ani is added to back-vowel verbs ending in -ít or in two consonants
- tanít (“teach”) + -ani → tanítani (“to teach”)
- akaszt (“hang”) + -ani → akasztani (“to hang”)
- bont (“demolish”) + -ani → bontani (“to demolish”)
- -eni is added to front-vowel verbs ending in -ít or in two consonants
- veszít (“lose”) + -eni → veszíteni (“to lose”)
- ijeszt (“frighten”) + -eni → ijeszteni (“to frighten”)
- csökkent (“reduce”) + -eni → csökkenteni (“to reduce”)
- -nni is added to verbs with variant stems
- vesz (“buy”) + -nni → venni (“to buy”)
- eszik (“eat”) + -nni → enni (“to eat”)
See also
Icelandic
Suffix
-ni f
- Nominalizes a verb or adjective.
- ákveða (“to decide”) + -ni → ákveðni (“decisiveness”)
- samkvæmur (“consistent”) + -ni → samkvæmni (“consistency”)
Derived terms
Karelian
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *-ni, from Proto-Uralic *-ni. Cognates include Finnish -ni.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- Used to mark the possession of the first person; my, our
- jalka (“leg”) → jalkani (“my leg, our legs”)
Derived terms
Category Karelian terms suffixed with -ni not found
References
- P. M. Zaykov (1999) Грамматика Карельского языка (фонетика и морфология) [Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology)], →ISBN, page 47
Maltese
Etymology
From Arabic ـنِي (-nī).
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni m or f
- 1st-person singular pronominal suffix, attached to verbs: me
- Synonyms: -i, (only in possessive use) tiegħi
- jinsa (“he forgets”) + -ni → jinsieni (“he forgets me”)
Related terms
Mecayapan Nahuatl
Etymology
Cognate with Classical Nahuatl -ni.
Verb
-ni
- Forms agent nouns from verbs.
Derived terms
Old Irish
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *snīs (“we”) (compare Welsh ni).
Suffix
-ni
- 1st person plural emphatic suffix
Derived terms
See also
Old Irish emphatic suffixes
Person |
Emphatic suffixes
|
1 sg.
|
-se, -sa
|
2 sg.
|
-siu, -so, -su
|
3 sg. m.n.
|
-som, -sem, -sium, -sum, -sam
|
3 sg. f.
|
-si
|
1 pl.
|
-ni, -nai, -sni
|
2 pl.
|
-si
|
3 pl.
|
-som, -sem, -sium, -sum, -sam
|
Emphatic suffixes are added to nouns modified by a possessive determiner to emphasize the possessor; to verbs, predicate adjectives, and predicate nouns to emphasize the subject; and to inflected prepositions to emphasize the object.
|
Old Norse
Suffix
-ni
- positive degree weak masculine nominative singular of -inn (adjective suffix)
- weak masculine nominative singular of -inn (participle suffix)
- third-person singular/plural present subjunctive of -na (inchoative verb suffix)
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-nь.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- forms adjectives
Derived terms
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish -ni.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɲi/
- Rhymes: -i
- Syllabification: ni
Suffix
-ni
- forms adjectives
- żyto + -ni → żytni
- forms masculine adjectives relating to place
- wschód + -ni → wschodni
Declension
Derived terms
Quechua
Suffix
-ni
- First-person singular subject.
- rimay (“to speak”) → ñuqa rimani (“I speak”)
- Epenthetic suffix inserted between consonant clusters.
- yachachiq (“teacher”) + -y (“my”) → *yachachiqy → yachachiqniy (“my teacher”)
See also
Romani
Etymology
Inherited from Sanskrit -इनी (-inī). Cognate with Hindi -नी (-nī).
Suffix
-ni f
- A suffix used to make a female form, similar to -ette or -ess in English
- grast (“horse”) + -ni → grasni (“mare”)
- thagar (“king”) + -ni → thagarni (“queen”)
Suffix
-ni f
- female equivalent of -no
- siklǒvel (“study”) + -ni → siklǒvni (“female student”)
Derived terms
References
- Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “-ni”, in ニューエクスプレス ロマ(ジプシー)語 [New Express Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, →ISBN, page 130
Sicilian
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- added to words that are stressed on the final syllable to move stress to the penultimate syllable
- accussì → accussini (“in this way”)
- accuḍḍì → accuḍḍini (“in that other way”)
- appassì → appassini (“in the meanwhile”)
- tu → tuni (“you”)
- cca → ccani (“here”)
- ḍḍà → ḍḍàni (“over there”)
- è → èni (“it is”)
- ḍḍà → ḍḍàni (“over there”)
- pirchì → pirchini (“why/because”)
Swahili
Suffix
-ni
- Second person plural:
- you, (archaic) ye
- With nouns, indicates location: in/inside, at, on
- nyumbani ― at home, in the house
- mezani ― on the table
18th century, Abdallah bin Ali bin Nasir, Al-Inkishafi, translation from R. Allen (1946) “Inkishafi—a translation from the Swahili”, in African Studies, volume 5, number 4, →DOI, pages 243–249, stanza 6:نِيَضِهِرِشِ يَغُ مَقَالِ ، اَبَيُ مُيُوْنِ نِقُصُدِيِ- Niyaḍihirishe yangu maqali, ambayo moyoni niquṣudiye.
- Let me set forth the plan which I have in my heart.
Usage notes
- (second-person plural) Used in conjunction with the direct imperative to form the plural. With native (Bantu)/nativized verbs in -a, vowel changes to -e:
- Kisomeni (Read it!) (from soma)
- Jibuni (Answer!) (from jibu)
- (second-person plural) Used in conjunction with the class 1 (personal) object affix -wa- to disambiguate the second-person plural from the third person plural; verbs in -a change this to -e before the affix:
- Niliwasomeeni (I read to you) vs. Niliwasomea (I read to them)
Warlpiri
Suffix
-ni
- non-past marker, applied to verbs of class 5 to indicate non-past tense
Welsh
Etymology
Cognate with Cornish -ni.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni m
- forming abstract nouns, -ness, -ment
- glas (“blue, green”) + -ni → glesni (“blueness, chlorosis”)
- llwyd (“grey”) + -ni → llwydni (“greyness, mould”)
- moel (“bald”) + -ni → moelni (“baldness”)
- rhwd (“rust”) + -ni → rhydni (“rustiness, rubigo”)
Usage notes
-ni causes i-affection of internal vowels.
Derived terms
References
- R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “-ni”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
Zaghawa
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- family (used in compounds)
References
Zulu
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Pronoun
-ni
- what
- Udlani? ― What are you eating?
- Yini lokhu? ― What is this?
Usage notes
Unlike other pronouns, -ni always appears attached to another word. However, it does have a copulative form yini.
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Suffix
-ni
- Forms the plural of the imperative of verbs.
References