な

Wikipedia

Stroke order

Character	な
Unicode name	HIRAGANA LETTER NA
Codepoint	U+306A

Japanese

Pronunciation

• IPA: /na/, [nä]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the 万葉仮名 (man'yōgana) kanji 奈 in the cursive 草書 (sōsho) style.

Syllable

な (Hepburn romanization na)

1. The hiragana syllable な (na), whose equivalent in katakana is ナ (na). It is the twenty-first syllable of the gojūon order, and its position in gojūon tables is な行あ段 (NA-gyō, A-dan; “row NA, section A”).

Related terms

• For a list of words starting with な (na) see: Special:Allpages/な

See also

• (Hiragana) 平仮名; あぁ, いぃ, うぅゔ, えぇ, おぉ, かゕが, きぎ, くぐ, けゖげ, こご, さざ, しじ, すず, せぜ, そぞ, ただ, ちぢ, つっづ, てで, とど, な, に, ぬ, ね, の, はばぱ, ひびぴ, ふぶぷ, へべぺ, ほぼぽ, ま, み, む, め, も, やゃ, ゆゅ, よょ, ら, り, る, れ, ろ, わゎ, ゐ, ゑ, を, ん, ー, ゝ, ゞ, ゟ

Etymology 2

Probably derived from mild emphatic interjection and sentence-final particle ね, itself from Old Japanese, indicating a general sense of admiration or consideration, or hope that the preceding statement comes to pass.

Interjection

な (romaji na)

1. (masculine, informal, mild emphatic) Used to get someone's attention. Carries generally neutral or slightly positive connotations.

   な、聞いたかい。

   な、きいたかい。
   Na, kiita kai?

   Hey, did you hear?

Particle

な (romaji na)

1. (masculine, informal, mild emphatic) Indicates emotion or mild emphasis. Sentence-final.

   そうかな。

   Sō ka na.

   Huh, is that so.

Usage notes

Considered less formal than ね of essentially the same meaning.

Etymology 3

From Old Japanese. Originally abbreviation of verb なる (naru, “to become”) used in an attributive role.

Particle

な (romaji na)

1. The copula particle used after 形容動詞 (keiyōdōshi, “adjectival nouns”) to make them function as adjectives.

   変な人

   へんなひと
   Hen na hito

   a strange person

Usage notes

The full なる (naru) form is still used to impart a more formal, archaic, or poetic sense.

静かなる田舎

しずかなるいなか
shizuka naru inaka

the quiet countryside

Etymology 4

From Old Japanese. Probably the root na of the negative adjective ない (nai). An alternate theory is that this is the imperfective conjugation of negative auxiliary verb ず (zu).

Particle

な (romaji na)

1. (masculine, informal, added after the dictionary form of a verb) Used to indicate prohibition: don't.

   行くな！

   いくな！
   Iku na!

   Don't go!

   ウィキペディアを引用するな。

   ウィキペディアをいんようするな。
   Wikipedia o in'yō suru na.

   Don't quote Wikipedia.

Usage notes

Considered very informal and potentially brusque depending on tone of voice. This would never be used in polite conversation, where the construction ～ないで下さい (~naide kudasai) would be used instead, appended to the imperfective stem of the verb in question. Examples:

そうするな。

Sō suru na.

Don't do that. -- addressing close friends, children, or possibly subordinates.

そうしないで下さい。

Sō shinaide kudasai.

(Please) Don't do that. -- addressing anyone else.

Etymology 5

Abbreviation of polite imperative auxiliary verb form なさい (nasai).

Particle

な (romaji na)

1. (informal, added after the stem form of a verb) An imperative or command: do.

   あっちへ行きな、ぼうや。

   あっちへいきな、ぼうや。
   Acchi e ikina, bōya.

   Go over there, boy → Get out of the way, boy!

   座りなよ。

   すわりなよ。
   Suwarina yo.

   Sit → Have a seat.

Usage notes

A casual way of issuing commands. Not as rough as the imperative conjugation of a verb. Usage restricted to addressing friends, children, or subordinates.

食べな

たべな
tabena

eat!

Synonyms

Roughly in order of politeness:

• 下さい (ください, kudasai)
• 頂戴 (ちょうだい, chōdai)
• なさい (なさい, nasai)

Etymology 6

The hiragana rendering of various other words.

Noun

な (romaji na)

1. 名: A name.
2. 魚: Fish as a food, particularly as a side dish.
3. 菜: Greens as a food, particularly as a side dish.
4. 肴: A side dish, be it meat or fish or greens.
5. 無: A lack of something.
6. 儺: Driving away the gods of disease.

Number

な (romaji na)

1. 七: Seven.

Pronoun

な (romaji na)

1. 汝, 己: (obsolete) The first-person personal pronoun: I, me; the second-person personal pronoun: you.