ない
Japanese
Etymology 1
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old Japanese. The adjectivizing suffix appears to derive ultimately from ancient copula or stative verb ぬ (nu).
Alternative forms
Suffix
- (non-productive) used to form derivative -i adjectives from other terms: having that quality, having that state; very much that quality or state
- 切ない、幼けない、ぎこちない
- setsunai, itokenai, gikochinai
- very moving, really young of manner, having clumsiness
- 切ない、幼けない、ぎこちない
Derived terms
Derived terms
Etymology 2
From the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) of Early Middle Japanese adjective 無し (nashi), with the medial /-k-/ falling out.
Adjective
ない • (nai) -i (adverbial なく (naku))
- 無い: no, not any
- スプーンが無い。
- Supūn ga nai.
- There is no spoon.
- スプーンが無い。
- not reaching a certain quantity; less than
- 海岸まで 100 メートルとない
- kaigan made hyaku mētoru to nai
- The coast is less than 100m away from here.
- 海岸まで 100 メートルとない
- (by extension) 亡い: passed away, dead
- 私は亡い者と考えてください
- watashi wa nai mono to kangaete kudasai
- Suppose I were a dead person.
- 私は亡い者と考えてください
Usage notes
- This term is often spelled in hiragana.
- In public speech and written language, the irregular expressions ありません (arimasen) and ありませんでした (arimasen deshita) (past) are recommended instead of ないです (nai desu) and なかったです (nakatta desu).
- When used as an auxiliary adjective, follows the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of -i adjectives ending in く (-ku), and the 連用形 (ren'yōkei, “continuative or stem form”) of -na adjectives and nominals ending in で (de). In either case a binding particle (係助詞) can be inserted between the ren'yōkei and the nai, but は (wa) is usually used for the latter. では (de wa) can be contracted to じゃ (ja)
- このパソコンは安くない。
- Kono pasokon wa yasuku nai.
- This computer is not cheap.
- 私は韓国語は上手ではありません。
- Watashi wa kankokugo wa jōzu de wa arimasen.
- I am not good at Korean.
- このパソコンは安くない。
Inflection
Inflection of ない
Stem forms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Imperfective (未然形) | なかろ | nakaro | |
Continuative (連用形) | なく | naku | |
Terminal (終止形) | ない | nai | |
Attributive (連体形) | ない | nai | |
Hypothetical (仮定形) | なけれ | nakere | |
Imperative (命令形) | なかれ | nakare | |
Key constructions | |||
Informal negative | なくない | naku nai | |
Informal past | なかった | nakatta | |
Informal negative past | なくなかった | naku nakatta | |
Formal | ないです | nai desu | |
Formal negative | なくないです | naku nai desu | |
Formal past | なかったです | nakatta desu | |
Formal negative past | なくなかったです | naku nakatta desu | |
Conjunctive | なくて | nakute | |
Conditional | なければ | nakereba | |
Provisional | なかったら | nakattara | |
Volitional | なかろう | nakarō | |
Adverbial | なく | naku | |
Degree | なさ | nasa |
Stem forms | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Irrealis (未然形) | なく[1] なから[2] |
naku nakara | ||
Continuative (連用形) | なく[1] なかり[2] |
naku nakari | ||
Terminal (終止形) | なし | nasi | ||
Attributive (連体形) | なき なかる |
naki nakaru | ||
Realis (已然形) | なけれ | nakere | ||
Imperative (命令形) | なかれ | nakare | ||
Key constructions | ||||
Negative | なからず | nakarazu | ||
Contrasting conjunction | なけれど | nakeredo | ||
Causal conjunction | なければ | nakereba | ||
Conditional conjunction | なくば | nakuba | ||
Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | なかりき | nakariki | ||
Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | なかりけり | nakarikeri | ||
Adverbial | なく | naku | ||
[1]Without auxiliary verb. [2]With auxiliary verb. |
Etymology 3
First appears in texts from the late Muromachi period as an eastern-dialect term.
Various etymologies are supposed as:
- From ancient eastern-dialect negative ending なふ (nafu), but there is a sizable gap of time between the apparent disappearance of nafu and the emergence of nai.[1] Moreover, nafu conjugated as a verb, whereas nai conjugates as an adjective.
- That said, both nafu and nai probably derive ultimately from ancient copula or stative verb ぬ (nu), with the negative sense possibly originating from the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of the verb stem, to which these endings attach.
- From the adjective ない (etymology 2). The nai auxiliary conjugates as a regular -i adjective just like the adjective nai in modern Japanese, but the patterns for the auxiliary were originally different from the adjective. In the Edo period, the auxiliary conjugated irregularly, including nanda instead of modern nakatta (past), and naikereba instead of modern nakereba (conditional).[1]
- Derived from the negative particle ぬ (nu).
Pronunciation
- In Tokyo accent, the accent of the verb construction depends on the suffixed verb:[2]
- If the suffixed verb is accented, the accent falls on the final mora in the mizenkei stem. E.g. つくる [tsùkúꜜrù] (Nakadaka) → つくらない [tsùkúráꜜnàì] (Nakadaka).
- If the suffixed verb is non-accented, the result:
- is non-accented if the suffix takes the following forms: ない (nai), ないと (nai to), ないつもりだ (nai tsumori da), ないはずだ (nai hazu da), ない場合 (nai bāi)
- has an accent falling on the first mora of the suffix, viz. な [na], if the suffix takes the following forms: ないから (nai kara), ないか (nai ka), ないでしょう (nai deshō), ないで (nai de), ないの… (nai no…), ないし (nai shi), ないなら (nai nara), なくて (nakute), なかった (nakatta), なければ (nakereba)
- has an accent falling later in patterns like ないこと… [náí kótóꜜ …], ないよう… [náí yóꜜò …], ないそう… [náí sóꜜò …], ないほう… [náí hóꜜò …], ないらしい [náí ráshíꜜì]
- There are a few exceptions like 恐れ入る: おそれいる [òsóꜜrèìrù] (Nakadaka) → おそれいらない [òsóꜜrèìrànàì] (Nakadaka)
Suffix
- (jodōshi) Used to form the negative of verbs: not, don't
- 学校に行かない。
- Gakkō ni ikanai.
- I don't go to school.
- 学校に行かない。
Usage notes
- Attaches to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of the verb. For 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quintigrade conjugation”, also known in English as “type 1”) verbs, this is the stem form ending in -a.
- Generally, ません (masen) and ませんでした (masen deshita) (past) are the recommended formal negative endings, instead of the somewhat less formal ないです (nai desu) and なかったです (nakatta desu), which are considered incorrect by conservative speakers. The original incompatibility of ない and です may be explained by the origin of ない as a verb, cf. the Etymology section.
- The auxiliary nai and the adjective 無い (nai) have mostly converged in modern usage. One distinction that is still maintained by some speakers appears when attaching そう (sō, “appears like, seems like”) or すぎる (sugiru, “too, too much, in excess”):
- Adjective nai + sō or sugiru → nasasō, nasasugiru
- Auxiliary nai + sō or sugiru → nasō, nasugiru
- The process of convergence is ongoing, and the さ-infix might be used by some speakers even with the auxiliary. This could be considered as proscribed in formal contexts, as slang or a grammatical error.
Inflection
Inflection of ない
Stem forms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Imperfective (未然形) | なかろ | nakaro | |
Continuative (連用形) | なく | naku | |
Terminal (終止形) | ない | nai | |
Attributive (連体形) | ない | nai | |
Hypothetical (仮定形) | なけれ | nakere | |
Imperative (命令形) | なかれ | nakare | |
Key constructions | |||
Informal negative | なくない | naku nai | |
Informal past | なかった | nakatta | |
Informal negative past | なくなかった | naku nakatta | |
Formal | ないです | nai desu | |
Formal negative | なくないです | naku nai desu | |
Formal past | なかったです | nakatta desu | |
Formal negative past | なくなかったです | naku nakatta desu | |
Conjunctive | なくて | nakute | |
Conditional | なければ | nakereba | |
Provisional | なかったら | nakattara | |
Volitional | なかろう | nakarō | |
Adverbial | なく | naku | |
Degree | なさ | nasa |
Synonyms
See also
Japanese basic inflections
Verbs | -i adjectives | nouns and -na adjectives | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpast | Plain | Affirmative | Use the dictionary form | stem + い (-i) | noun + だ (da) (noun + である (de aru)) |
Negative | mizenkei + ない (-nai) | stem + くない (-ku nai) | noun + で(は)ない (de [wa] nai) | ||
Polite | Affirmative | ren'yōkei + ます (-masu) | stem + いです (-i desu) | noun + です (desu) | |
Negative | ren'yōkei + ません (-masen) | stem + くないです (-ku nai desu) stem + くありません (-ku arimasen) |
noun + で(は)ないです (de [wa] nai desu) noun + で(は)ありません (de [wa] arimasen) | ||
Past | Plain | Affirmative | ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + た (-ta) | stem + かった (-katta) | noun + だった (datta) (noun + であった (de atta)) |
Negative | mizenkei + なかった (-nakatta) | stem + くなかった (-ku nakatta) | noun + で(は)なかった (de [wa] nakatta) | ||
Polite | Affirmative | ren'yōkei + ました (-mashita) | stem + かったです (-katta desu) | noun + でした (deshita) | |
Negative | ren'yōkei + ませんでした (-masen deshita) | stem + くなかったです (-ku nakatta desu) stem + くありませんでした (-ku arimasen deshita) |
noun + で(は)なかったです (de [wa] nakatta desu) noun + で(は)ありませんでした (de [wa] arimasen deshita) | ||
Volitional | Plain | mizenkei (of Group I verbs) + う (-u > -o) mizenkei (of other verbs) + よう (-yō) |
†stem + かろう (-karō) (stem + いだろう (-i darō)) |
noun + だろう (darō) (noun + であろう (de arō)) | |
Polite | ren'yōkei + ましょう (-mashō) | (stem + いでしょう (-i deshō)) | noun + でしょう (deshō) | ||
Conjunctive | ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + て (-te) | stem + くて (-kute) | noun + で (de) (noun + であって (de atte)) | ||
Hypothetical conditional | kateikei + ば (-ba) | stem + ければ (-kereba) | (noun + であれば (de areba)) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典(新装版) [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD)
Categories:
- Japanese terms derived from Old Japanese
- Japanese lemmas
- Japanese suffixes
- Japanese hiragana
- Japanese terms with usage examples
- Japanese terms inherited from Early Middle Japanese
- Japanese terms derived from Early Middle Japanese
- Japanese adjectives
- Japanese い-i adjectives
- Japanese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Japanese basic words