-ni

See also: -ní, -ṉi, and Appendix:Variations of "ni"

Classical Nahuatl

Suffix

-ni

1. Marks a verb's habitual or customary present tense.

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Curripaco

Suffix

-ni

1. third person singular masculine patient marker

References

• Swintha Danielsen, Tania Granadillo, Agreement in two Arawak languages, in The Typology of Semantic Alignment (edited by Mark Donohue, Søren Wichmann) (2008, →ISBN), page 398

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Finnish

Etymology

From , from Proto-Uralic *-ni. Originally the first-person possessive suffix for words in plural, with -mi used for singular words; the latter is now only found in dialects.

Suffix

-ni (appended to the (strong) vowel stem; the final -n of the genitive and illative singular and plural or the -t of the nominative plural is omitted)

1. (possessive) suffix used with or without minun (the genitive of the personal pronoun minä), corresponds to the English possessive pronoun my:

   (minun) kirjani = my book/books

   (minun) valaani = my oath/of my oath (partitive of vala) or my whale/whales (valas)

2. (possessive) appended to a genitive-requiring postposition that is after or without minun (the genitive of the personal pronoun minä), me:

   (minun) edessäni = in front of me

   (minun) takanani = behind me

3. (possessive) used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing, e.g., telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "I"; appended to the active present participle in genitive singular when the action is concurrent with the main clause:

   Sanoin tekeväni läksyjäni.

   I said that I was doing my homework. (similar to the Latin structure accusativus cum infinitivo, e.g., "se dicit facere")

4. (possessive) used in a participle structure replacing an "että" clause, preceded by a verb expressing, e.g., telling, claiming, asserting, confirming, thinking, wish, desire, seeming, when the clauses have the same subject "I"; appended to the active past participle in genitive singular when the said/alleged (etc.) action antedates the main clause:

   Väitin tehneeni läksyjäni.

   I claimed to have been doing my homework.

5. (possessive) used in a shortened sentence expressing concurrent actions when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the inessive of the active second infinitive:

   Tehdessäni läksyjäni (minä) kuulin laukauksen ulkoa.

   (While) doing my homework, I heard a shot from outside.

6. (possessive) used in a shortened sentence expressing subsequent actions when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the partitive of the passive past participle singular:

   Tehtyäni läksyni (minä) kuulin laukauksen ulkoa.

   (After) having done / After doing my homework, I heard a shot from outside.

7. (possessive) used in a final shortened sentence expressing "in order to do" when the clauses have the same subject "I", appended to the long first infinitive:

   Tehdäkseni läksyni hyvin (minä) menin hiljaiseen huoneeseen.

   (In order) to do my homework well, I went into a quiet room.

8. (possessive) Used in some adverbs, when the clause has the subject "I".

   Olen hyvin pahoillani siitä.

   I'am very sorry about it.

9. (possessive) Always appended to a noun in the comitative case when the clause has the subject "I".

   Kävelin kirjoineni ovesta ulos.

   I walked with my books out the door.

Usage notes

• The possessive suffix -ni is compulsory in standard Finnish. In standard Finnish, when expressing ownership or before a postposition, the genitive form of the corresponding personal pronoun "minä" before the main word can be omitted. In colloquial Finnish, the suffix -ni is very rare and only the genitive form "minun" (or its colloquial or dialectal variants) is used before the main word.
• The shortened sentences — except for the participle structures — pertain mainly to formal/standard Finnish, not to informal/colloquial Finnish. It is also to be noticed that the shortened clauses are never separated from the main clauses with a comma.

Derived terms

• (the reflexive pronoun, itse + -ni) itseni

See also

• -si
• -nsa / -nsä
• -mme
• -nne

Anagrams

• -in

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Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ni]

Suffix

-ni

1. (infinitive suffix) Used to form the infinitive.

   ad (“give”) → adni (“to give”)

2. Concessive sense: used to devalue the predicate of the sentence when repeated and followed by a clause that contrasts with or contradicts it. See also -nak/-nek.

   Elindulni elindul, de rögtön le is áll. ― It does start, but it turns off right away.

3. (somewhat dated or literary, with the omission of lehet) one can…, it is possible to…

   Innen már látni a falut. ― One can already see the village from here.

Usage notes

• (infinitive suffix) Variants:

  -ni is added to most verbs

  ‎ad (“give”) + ‎-ni → ‎adni (“to give”)

  -ani is added to back-vowel verbs ending in -ít or in two consonants

  ‎tanít (“teach”) + ‎-ani → ‎tanítani (“to teach”)

  ‎akaszt (“hang”) + ‎-ani → ‎akasztani (“to hang”)

  ‎bont (“demolish”) + ‎-ani → ‎bontani (“to demolish”)

  -eni is added to front-vowel verbs ending in -ít or in two consonants

  ‎veszít (“lose”) + ‎-eni → ‎veszíteni (“to lose”)

  ‎ijeszt (“frighten”) + ‎-eni → ‎ijeszteni (“to frighten”)

  ‎csökkent (“reduce”) + ‎-eni → ‎csökkenteni (“to reduce”)

  -nni is added to verbs with variant stems

  ‎vesz (“buy”) + ‎-nni → ‎venni (“to buy”)

  ‎eszik (“eat”) + ‎-nni → ‎enni (“to eat”)

See also

• Category:Hungarian infinitives
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

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Icelandic

Suffix

-ni

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Derived terms

Icelandic terms suffixed with -ni

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Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic ـنِي (-nī).

Suffix

-ni

1. me (object suffix, first person singular)

Related terms

• jien, jiena

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Mecayapan Nahuatl

Etymology

Cognate with Classical Nahuatl -ni.

Verb

-ni

1. Forms agent nouns from verbs.

Derived terms

• paxa̱lohua̱ni
• tacajcaya̱huani
• tachtequini
• tacui̱cani
• tajcuilohua̱ni
• tamachtia̱ni
• tamictia̱ni
• tanamacani
• tapopo̱chhuia̱ni
• te̱cua̱ni
• tzoncalhuihuitani

 

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Old Irish

Alternative forms

• -sni

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *snīs (“we”) (compare Welsh ni).

Suffix

-ni

1. 1st person plural emphatic suffix

Derived terms

Old Irish terms suffixed with -ni

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Quechua

Suffix

-ni

1. First-person singular subject.

   rimay (“to speak”) → ñuqa rimani (“I speak”)

2. Epenthetic suffix inserted between consonant clusters.

   yachachiq (“teacher”) +‎ -y (“my”) → *yachachiqy → yachachiqniy (“my teacher”)

See also

• -y

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Romani

Suffix

-ni f

1. A suffix used to make a female form, similar to -ette or -ess in English

   ‎grast (“horse”) + ‎-ni → ‎grastni (“mare”)

   ‎thagar (“king”) + ‎-ni → ‎thagarni (“queen”)

2. female equivalent of -no

   ‎siklǒvel (“study”) + ‎-ni → ‎siklǒvni (“female student”)

Derived terms

Romani terms suffixed with -ni

References

• Yūsuke Sumi (2018) “-ni”, in ニューエクスプレス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, →ISBN, page 130

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Sicilian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nɪ]

Suffix

-ni

1. added to words that are stressed on the final syllable to move stress to the penultimate syllable

   tu → tuni (“you”)

   ccà → ccani (“here”)

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Swahili

Suffix

-ni

1. Second person plural:

   you, (archaic) ye

2. With nouns, indicates location: in/inside, at, on

   nyumbani ― at home, in the house

   mezani ― on the table

Usage notes

• (second-person plural) Used in conjunction with the direct imperative to form the plural. With native (Bantu)/nativized verbs in -a, vowel changes to -e:

  Kisomeni (Read it!) (from soma)

  Jibuni (Answer!) (from jibu)

• (second-person plural) Used in conjunction with the class 1 (personal) object affix -wa- to disambiguate the second-person plural from the third person plural; verbs in -a change this to -e before the affix:

  Niliwasomeeni (I read to you) vs. Niliwasomea (I read to them)

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Warlpiri

Suffix

-ni

1. non-past marker, applied to verbs of class 5 to indicate non-past tense

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Zulu

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ní/

Pronoun

-ni

1. what

   Udlani? ― What are you eating?

   Yini lokhu? ― What is this?

Usage notes

Unlike other pronouns, -ni always appears attached to another word. However, it does have a copulative form yini.

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ni/

Suffix

-ni

1. Forms the plural of the imperative of verbs.

References

• C. M. Doke, B. W. Vilakazi (1972) “-ni”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “-ni”