にて

Japanese

Etymology

Supposed as case particle に (ni) + conjunctive particle て (te).^[1]^[2] Compare Korean 에서 (-eseo).

An alternative analysis suggests that に (ni) may be a conjugation of an ancient copular or stative verb ぬ (nu), which persists in modern Japanese as particle に (ni) and auxiliary verb ぬ (nu) / ず (zu). This would make nite appear to be a regular conjunctive conjugation of the copula. Compare the て form of Japanese verbs.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɲ̟i te̞]

Particle

にて • (ni te)

formal version of で (de), indicating location or instrumental

References

^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[KDJ-1] Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN

[DJR-2] Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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[2]