này

See also: nay, NAY, näy, nạy, ŋay, and n'ay

Vietnamese

From Proto-Vietic *-niː, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *niʔ ~ *nih (“this”); cognate with Khmer នេះ (nih, “this”), Pacoh nâh (“this”), Khasi kane/une (“this”) and Car Nicobarese në (“these things”). See also ni (“this”) (central Vietnamese dialects) and nay (“now”).

này

Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
		Unspecified		Close to the speaker or newly introduced		Remote, already identified
PLACE đ- (first register)		đâu ‘wherever’		đây ‘here’		đấy ‘there’
REFERENCE n- (second register)		nào ‘whichever’		này ‘this’		nọ ‘that’
PROPORTION b- (first register)		bao ‘to whatever extent’		bây ‘to this extent’		bấy ‘to that extent’
MANNER s- (first register) v- (second register)		sao ‘however’		vầy ‘this way’		vậy ‘that way’
Nguyễn Phú Phong (1992), “Vietnamese Demonstratives Revisited”
	D^• (Indefinite)		D1 (Proximal)		D2 (Medial)		D3 (Distal)
+NOM(inal)	đâu place-what		đây place-this		đấy place-that₁
±NOM(inal)					đó (place-)that₁		kia (place-)that₂
–NOM(inal)	nào what		nầy this		nấy/ấy that₁		nọ that₂

Vietnamese demonstratives (alternative version)
	Proximal (*-iː)	Distal 1 (*-iːʔ)	Distal 2 (*-əːʔ)	Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ)	Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel)
Place, attributive¹ n-	ni nì này	nấy	nớ	nọ	nào
Place, nominal² đ-	đây	đí đấy	—	đó	đâu
Manner r-	ri rày	—	rứa	—	ru sao³
Extent 1⁴ b-	bây	bấy	—	—	bao
Extent 2⁵ v-	vầy	vậy	—	—	—
¹ Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). ² Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). ³ From earlier C-raːw (where C is nonspecific consonant). ⁴ Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). ⁵ Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).

này • (呢)