này

See also: nay, Nay, NAY, näy, nạy, nãy, nậy, nảy, nấy, nầy, nẩy, ñay, ŋay, and n'ay

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation
  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [naj˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [naj˦˩]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [na(ː)j˨˩]
  • Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)(file)

Determiner

này • (尼, 呢)

  1. this
    Cái thằng dở hơi này!
    You butthead!

See also
Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
UnspecifiedClose to the
speaker or
newly introduced		Remote,
already identified
PLACE
đ- (first register)		 đâu
‘wherever’		 đây
‘here’		 đấy
‘there’
REFERENCE
n- (second register)		 nào
‘whichever’		 này
‘this’		 nọ
‘that’
PROPORTION
b- (first register)		 bao
‘to whatever extent’		 bây
‘to this extent’		 bấy
‘to that extent’
MANNER
s- (first register)
v- (second register)		 sao
‘however’		 vầy
‘this way’		 vậy
‘that way’
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited”
D•
(Indefinite)		D1
(Proximal)		D2
(Medial)		D3
(Distal)
+NOM(inal) đâu
place-what		 đây
place-this		 đấy
place-that1
±NOM(inal) đó
(place-)that1		 kia
(place-)that2
–NOM(inal) nào
what		 nầy
this		 nấy/ấy
that1		 nọ
that2
Vietnamese demonstratives (alternative version)
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		 nấy nớ nọ nào
Place, nominal2
đ-		 đây đí
đấy		 — 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”).

Adverb

này • (尼, 呢)

  1. here
  • nay (“now”)

Particle

này • (尼, 呢)

  1. prefixes someone's name or kinship title, used to call for their attention
    Này ai ơi! ― Hey there!
    này Lan ― hey Lan
  2. suffixes someone's name or kinship title, usually functions both as a focus marker and signaling a question
    Synonym: nè
    Khoa này, nghe nói em sắp chuyển nhà hả?
    Is it true that you are about to move out, Khoa?

Usage notes
  • Its usage as a vocative marker similar to English o or hey seems to restrict to the literary register and translation.
  • Also used in insults similarly to Japanese この (kono).
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