呢

呢 (Kangxi radical 30, 口+5, 8 strokes, cangjie input 口尸心 (RSP), four-corner 6701₁, composition ⿰口尼)

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 181, character 25
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3430
• Dae Jaweon: page 399, character 31
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 609, character 3
• Unihan data for U+5462

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *nil) : semantic 口 (“mouth”) + phonetic 尼 (OC *nil)

Ota (1987) suggests that the particle used in questions comes from 聻 (MC nriX) [Five Dynasties], a particle which may come from 爾 (MC nyeX, “that”), and that the particle used to indicate an action in progress comes from earlier 哩 [Yuan dynasty], which may come from 裏 (MC liX, “place”) [Tang dynasty–Five Dynasties].

呢

1. Sentence-final particle indicating a reciprocal question; used to apply the previously asked question to a new subject. What about ...?; And ...?

   你呢？  ―  Nǐ ne?  ―  How about you?

   噉我呢？ [Cantonese]  ―  gam² ngo⁵ ne¹? [Jyutping]  ―  What about me?

   你覺得呢？／你觉得呢？  ―  Nǐ juéde ne?  ―  What do you think?

   你爸爸好嗎？你媽媽呢？ [MSC, trad.]
   你爸爸好吗？你妈妈呢？ [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ bàba hǎo ma? Nǐ māma ne? [Pinyin]

   How is your father? And your mom?

2. Sentence-final particle signalling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words.

   今天我倆值日，我這兒正掃著地，他呢，一溜煙兒跑了。 [MSC, trad.]
   今天我俩值日，我这儿正扫着地，他呢，一溜烟儿跑了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Jīntiān wǒ liǎ zhírì, wǒ zhèr zhèng sǎo zhe dì, tā ne, yīliūyānr pǎo le. [Pinyin]

   He and I were on cleaning duty today. I was sweeping the room when he got away in a flash.

3. Sentence-final particle indicating continuation of an action or state, English present continuous. to be ...-ing

   我們上漢語課呢。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们上汉语课呢。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen shàng hànyǔ kè ne. [Pinyin]

   We are attending a Chinese lesson.

4. Sentence-final particle used to make questions more indirect, to give the impression that the speaker is speaking to themselves.

   他去哪兒了呢？／他去哪儿了呢？  ―  Tā qù nǎr le ne?  ―  I wonder where he's going?

   伊來呢勿來？ [Shanghainese, trad.]
   伊来呢勿来？ [Shanghainese, simp.]

   From: 2007, Qian Nairong, 上海话大词典, page 309

   ⁶yi ⁶le ⁰gni ⁸veq-le [Wugniu]

   Is he coming or not?

5. (Shanghainese) Sentence-final particle expressing anger.

   早點介講呢！到現在再講。 [Shanghainese, trad.]
   早点介讲呢！到现在再讲。 [Shanghainese, simp.]

   From: 2007, Qian Nairong, 上海话大词典, page 309

   ⁵tsau-ti ⁵ka ⁵kaon ⁰gni ⁵tau ⁶yi-ze ⁵tse ⁵kaon [Wugniu]

   You should have said it sooner, not now!

When expressing an action in progress, 呢 can be used with 正在 (zhèngzài) and 著／着 (zhe) in a sentence. This is the full pattern. Each part is optional. The use of 呢 implies a contrastive mood.

我們正在上著漢語課呢。 [MSC, trad.]
我们正在上着汉语课呢。 [MSC, simp.]

Wǒmen zhèngzài shàng zhe hànyǔ kè ne. [Pinyin]

But we are (still) in Chinese class now.

“cloth”

From French laine. In 《明史》, this word is also written as 嗹／𪡏. Cognate with Cantonese 冷 (laang5-1).

呢

1. Used in 呢喃 (nínán).
2. woollen cloth (for heavy clothing)

   呢絨／呢绒  ―  níróng  ―  (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 1853, 陳逢衡 [Chen Fengheng; Chin Hōkō], edited by 荒木謇, 𠸄咭唎紀略 [Yingjili jilüe; Egeresu kiryaku]‎, page unknown:

     男人衣服穿呢。惟女人穿各色紬緞。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     男人衣服穿呢。惟女人穿各色绸缎。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Nánrén yīfú chuān ní. Wéi nǚrén chuān gèsè chōuduàn. [Pinyin]

     the men wear woolen clothing; only the women wear vivid silks and satins

Substrate word. Compare:

• Proto-Tai *najꟲ (“this”): Zhuang neix (“this”), Thai นี้ (níi, “this”), Lao ນີ້ (nī, “this”)
• Proto-Mon-Khmer *niʔ ~ nih (“this”): Khmer នេះ (nih, “this”)
• Proto-Mon-Khmer *naaj (“deictic particle”): Khmer នាយ (niəy, “over there”), Vietnamese này, nầy (“this”), Vietnamese nay (“now”), Vietnamese nấy (“that”)
• Proto-Hmong-Mien *ʔneinˣ (“this”): White Hmong no (“here, this”)
• Proto-Austronesian *nay (“deictic particle: this”), *qani (“proximal deictic: this”), *-ni (“proximal spatio-temporal deixis: this, here; now”): Malay ini (“this”).

呢

1. (Cantonese) this

• Unlike Mandarin 這／这 (zhè), 呢 cannot be used alone without a following classifier. See 呢個#Usage notes.

呢

1. (Cantonese) hey; Used to raise attention of the listener

   • 呢，你同我搦減啲嘢吖！ [Cantonese, trad.]
     呢，你同我搦减啲嘢吖！ [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 1957, 謝賢 (actor), in 《鬼夜哭》 [The Nightly Cry of the Ghost], 5:17 from the start

     ne², nei⁵ tung⁴ ngo⁵ nik¹ gam² di¹ je⁵ aa¹! [Jyutping]

     Hey, hold some of the stuff for me!

From clipping of English level.

呢

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, gaming) levels (in a video game)
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, figuratively) levels in a society; social class

呢

1. sound
2. Alternative form of 䛏 (ní)

呢

1. Only used in 唵嘛呢叭咪吽 (ǎn mānī bēimēi hōng).

呢

1. (Southern Min) Used in some question words.

(uncommon “Hyōgai” kanji)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

• Go-on: に (ni); ねい (nei)
• Kan-on: じ (ji)^{←ぢ (di, historical)}; でい (dei)

呢 (eum 니 (ni))

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

呢: Hán Nôm readings: ni, nài, nấy, nê, nỉ, nì, này

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.