-ना

See also: ना, ऩ, नौ, ने, नि, नृ, नै, and न

Hindi

Pronunciation

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /nɑː/, [näː]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Prakrit -𑀅𑀡 (-aṇa)

Prakrit -𑀓- (-ka-)

Hindi -ना (-nā)

Inherited from Prakrit -𑀅𑀡 (-aṇa) + Middle Indo-Aryan -𑀓- (-ka-), from Sanskrit -अन (-ana), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *-anam, from Proto-Indo-European *-onom, from *-o- (thematic vowel) + *-nom (verbal noun suffix). Doublet of -अन (-an). Cognate with German -en (“infinitive ending”).

Suffix

-ना • (-nā)

1. (as an inflection)
   1. used to form the infinitive

      ‎कर (kar, “do (stem)”) + ‎-ना (-nā) → ‎करना (karnā, “to do”)

   2. forms neutral imperatives when used without a verb

      एक किताब लाना ― ek kitāb lānā ― Bring a book

2. forms verbs from nouns or adjectives

   ‎छेद (ched, “hole”) + ‎-ना (-nā) → ‎छेदना (chednā, “to bore, dig a hole”)

   ‎ललकार (lalkār, “challenge”) + ‎-ना (-nā) → ‎ललकारना (lalkārnā, “to challenge”)

   ‎महक (mahak, “fragrant”) + ‎-ना (-nā) → ‎महकना (mahaknā, “to be fragrant”)

Usage notes

Almost all Perso-Arabic and learned Sanskrit tatsama borrowings are nominal. Most of these nominals are verbalized as compound verbs with some base verb, usually करना (karnā), as in साफ़ करना (sāf karnā, “to clean”). A smaller number of verbs are formed directly from the noun with suffixes like -आना (-ānā) and this one.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Hindi -ना (-nā), from Prakrit -𑀅𑀡𑀻𑀬 (-aṇīya), from Sanskrit -अनीय (-anīya), whence also the substantive -नी (-nī) ending. The reduction in the participle/adjective would come from taking the form with -nī as a feminine and analogizing the masculine -nā, likely with influence from the infinitive -nā (for which see Etymology 1).

Suffix

-ना • (-nā)

1. forms gerundive participles, meaning that which should, can, or will be done; with a subject in the dative, expresses obligation

   वह खिचड़ी खानी है ― vah khicṛī khānī hai ― that khichdi is to be eaten

   मुझे यह किताबें पढ़नीं हैं

   mujhe yah kitābẽ paṛhnī̃ ha͠i

   I have to read these books

Usage notes

This suffix is typically still called the "infinitive" or "infinitive participle".

Declension

Declension of -ना (ā-stem participle)

	masculine		feminine
	singular	plural	singular	plural
direct	-ना -nā	-ने -ne	-नी -nī	-नीं -nī̃
oblique	-ने -ne	-ने -ne	-नी -nī	-नीं -nī̃
vocative	-ने -ne	-ने -ne	-नी -nī	-नीं -nī̃

References

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “-ना”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press
• Jaroslav Strnad (2013) Morphology and Syntax of Old Hindī : Edition and Analysis of One Hundred Kabīr Vānī Poems From Rājasthān (Brill's Indological Library; 45), Leiden, →OCLC, page 451

See also: ना, ऩ, नौ, ने, नि, नृ, नै, and न

Kurukh

Etymology

Borrowed from Indo-Aryan.

Suffix

-ना (-nā)

1. used to form the infinitive
2. forms verbs from nouns or adjectives

   ‎[script needed] (pińj, “name”) + ‎-ना (-nā) → ‎[script needed] (pińjnā, “to name”)

Sanskrit

Suffix

-ना • (-nā́)

1. nominative singular feminine of -न (-ná)
2. (Vedic) instrumental singular feminine of -न (-ná)