From Proto-Vietic *-niː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *niʔ ~ *nih (“this”); cognate with Khmer នេះ (nih, “this”), Pacoh nâh (“this”), Khasi kane/une (“this”) and Car Nicobarese në (“these things”). See also nay (“now”) and Central Vietnamese ni (“this”).
Part of the n-series of demonstratives, along with nấy, nớ, nọ, nè.
| 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 |
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: 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). | ||||||