-ni
Classical Nahuatl
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
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
- (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
- (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.
Garo
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ni]
- Rhymes: -ni
Suffix
-ni
- (infinitive suffix) Forms the infinitive.
- 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
See also
- Category:Hungarian infinitives
- Appendix:Hungarian suffixes
Icelandic
Suffix
-ni f
Derived terms
Karelian
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *-ni, from Proto-Uralic *-ni. Cognates include Finnish -ni.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ni/
Suffix
-ni
Derived terms
References
- P. M. Zaykov (1999) Грамматика Карельского языка (фонетика и морфология) [Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology)], →ISBN, page 47
Maltese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɪ/
Suffix
-ni m or f
Related terms
Mecayapan Nahuatl
Etymology
Cognate with Classical Nahuatl -ni.
Verb
-ni
- Forms agent nouns from verbs.
Derived terms
- paxa̱lohua̱ni
- tacajcaya̱huani
- tachtequini
- tacui̱cani
- tajcuilohua̱ni
- tamachtia̱ni
- tamictia̱ni
- tanamacani
- tapopo̱chhuia̱ni
- te̱cua̱ni
- tzoncalhuihuitani
Old Irish
Etymology
From Proto-Celtic *snīs (“we”) (compare Welsh ni).
Suffix
-ni
- 1st person plural emphatic suffix
Derived terms
See also
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
Old Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *-nь.
Suffix
-ni
- forms adjectives
Derived terms
Polish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Polish -ni.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɲi/
- Rhymes: -i
- Syllabification: ni
Suffix
-ni
Declension
singular | plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine animate | masculine inanimate | feminine | neuter | virile (= masculine personal) | non-virile | |
nominative | -ni | -nia | -nie | -ni | -nie | |
genitive | -niego | -niej | -niego | -nich | ||
dative | -niemu | -niej | -niemu | -nim | ||
accusative | -niego | -ni | -nią | -nie | -nich | -nie |
instrumental | -nim | -nią | -nim | -nimi | ||
locative | -nim | -niej | -nim | -nich |
Derived terms
Quechua
Suffix
-ni
See also
Romani
Suffix
-ni f
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
Serbo-Croatian
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /niː/
Suffix
-nī (Cyrillic spelling -нӣ)
Derived terms
Sicilian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ni]
Suffix
-ni
- added to words that are stressed on the final syllable to move stress to the penultimate syllable
Swahili
Other scripts | |
---|---|
Ajami | ـنِ |
Suffix
-ni
- Second person plural:
- With nouns, indicates location: in/inside, at, on
- 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, , 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:
- (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
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ni/
Suffix
-ni m
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
References
- Beria-English English-Beria Dictionary [provisional] ADESK, Iriba, Kobe Department, Chad
Zulu
Etymology 1
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ní/
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
- IPA(key): /ni/
Suffix
-ni
- Forms the plural of the imperative of verbs.
References
- C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ni”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ni”