ne

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "ne"

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English ne, from Old English ne, from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Not.

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. (obsolete) Nor.
    • 1484, Original Letters, King Edward the Fifth, under the direction of his Uncle, to Otes Gilbert, Esq., commanding him to receive Knighthood at the expected Coronation:
      That than I shall not geve therunto faith ne credence, nor therfore put them to any maner ponyssement, before that they or any of them so accused may be at their lawful defence and answer.
    • 1489, The gouernayle of helthe:
      And therin is no drede nor bytternes ne expences, but therin is pure recreacyon of body and of soule soo it be donn in clene places.
    • 1489, The gouernayle of helthe:
      Be not to hasty ne sodenly vengeable, to poure folke doo no vyolence.
    • 1489, The gouernayle of helthe:
      Moreouer no man be so hardy to drynk fastyng cold water, ne after that he hath accompanyed wyth a woman, ne after gret trauayle, ne after exersice tyll he haue fyrst rested hym, ne by nyght namely yf he haue do gloue tofore.
    • 1500, The Example of Euyll Tongues:
      A false tonge wyll euer Imagyne and saye / That neuer by creature was sayd ne thought.
    • 1509, Wynkyn de Worde, The fyftene joyes of maryage:
      For chastyce can he not by daye ne nyght his wyfe but by his betynge maketh lyght and hote the loue bytwene her and her frende.
    • 1511, The Records of the City of Norwich:
      Item, that noo woman nor maide weyve any worsted stamynges ne sayes for that that thei be nott of sufficient powre to werke the said worsteddes as thei owte to be wrought, upon payne of iij s iiij d as often as thei be founde wevyng to be devyded and leuyed in maner and forme aboue expressed.
    • 1520, Richard Pynson, The Lyfe of The Blessed Martyr Saynte Thomas:
      That they shulde no lenger kepe ne susteyne Thomas the archebysshope.
    • 1526, The Grete Herball:
      The rote ought to be gadered in the begynnynge of somer and dryed in the sonne bycause [tha]¬t it corrupt ne rotte bycause of the moystnesse[,] & it may be kept two yeres;
    • 1535, Thomas Elyot, The Education or Bringing up of Children:
      For lyinge is a detestable vice, and to be hated of all men, ne to be suffred amonge seruantis ne other persones[,] howe poure estate so euer they be of.
    • 1542, Nicholas Udall, Apophthegms (translation):
      Thus some persones beeyng inuited and exhorted to falle to the studie of lettres, make their excuse that thei bee sickely, that thei can not slepe ne take their naturall reste in the nightes.
    • 1558, Thomas Phaer, The Aeneid (translation):
      We Moores be not so base of wit, ne yet so blunt of mynd.
    • c1560, Edward Gosynhill, The Schoolhouse of Women:
      The deuyll gossyp, ought me a shame / And prayde I am nowe, euerye penye I wolde god he had, be blinde and lame / The daye and houre, he fyrste woed me / Ware not gossyp, these chyldren thre I wolde not tary, ye may be sure / Longer with hym, daye ne houre.
    • 1562, Arthur Brooke, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet:
      Neither extremitie, ne gentle meanes could boote; she hydeth close within her brest, her secret sorowes roote.
    • 1562, Arthur Brooke, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet:
      Ne on her teares or plaint, at all to have remorse, but (if they can not with her will,) to bring the mayde perforce.
    • 1570, John Thynne, The Debate betweene Pride and Lowlines:
      His hart encreaseth not thereby ne lesseth as edoon these fooles.
    • 1577, The Hereford Municipal Manuscript:
      And that no victualer ne other person or persons forestall any kynde of victualls cominge to the said Cyty or within the precyncte of the same before the same victualls be come to the place.
    • 1587, Gascoigne and Kinwelmershe, Jocasta:
      Ioc: How can that be and thou my ioy in warre? Po: Henceforth n'am I your ioy ne yet your sonne.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.1:
      But to her cry they list not lenden eare, / Ne ought the more their mightie strokes surceasse.
    • 1634, W. Lathum:
      Whose worth all outward is in shew alone / But inward sent hath not, ne vertue none.
    • 1798, Samuel Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", ll. 443-6:
      The pang, the curse, with which they died, / Had never pass'd away; / I could not draw my een from theirs / Ne turn them up to pray.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Ne survives only as part of the oral tradition in rural Scotland and Northern England. It is almost never used in common speech.

Anagrams[edit]

Ainu[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

ne (Kana spelling ネ)

  1. (intransitive, copulative) to be, become
    Ainu ne ruwe ne.
    He is an Ainu.

Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

  • an (“to exist”)

Albanian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

The nominative-accusative is from accusative Proto-Albanian *nōs, stressed form of clitic Proto-Indo-European *nos, which is continued by the clitic na.[2] Neve and nesh are innovated, but Gheg retains dative nahe (Old Albanian nae) from a genitive *nosōm.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ne (accusative ne, dative neve, ablative nesh)

  1. we, us

Declension[edit]

forms of ne
ne (1st person plural)
nominative ne
ablative nesh
full form clitic
accusative ne na
dative neve na
possessive adjective possessive pronoun
ynë yni

See also[edit]

Albanian personal pronouns
singular plural
1st person unë ne
2nd person ti ju
3rd person masculine ai ata
feminine ajo ato

References[edit]

  1. ^ Fialuur i voghel Sccyp e ltinisct (Small Dictionary of Albanian and Latin), page 85, by P. Jak Junkut, 1895, Sckoder
  2. ^ Orel, Vladimir (1998) , “ne”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 289

Blagar[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. human, person

References[edit]

Breton[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Brythonic *ni.

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. not

Usage notes[edit]

Used combined with ket, mirroring French ne ... pas.

Catalan[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ne (enclitic, contracted 'n, proclitic en, contracted proclitic n')

  1. represents an indeterminate number or quantity of a given noun
  2. represents a place (associated with the action described by the verb) that would be introduced by the preposition de
  3. replaces a phrase introduced by the preposition de
  4. replaces the object of a causative verb

Usage notes[edit]

  • Ne cannot be used more than once as the object of a given verb.
  • While ne is usually used to replace phrases beginning with the prepostion de, adverbial phrases (eg de pressa) are replaced with hi.
  • Ne is sometimes used instead of ho to replace an adjective or indefinite noun as the predicate of a verb.
  • Ne is sometimes used popularly to add emphasis to a sentence: in this sense, it has no translation in English.

See also[edit]

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Chuukese[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. to (connects verbs)

Preposition[edit]

ne

  1. Expressing a fraction or a ratio. Preceded by a nominator and followed by the denominator.

Czech[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): [ˈnɛ]
  • audio
    		(file)

Interjection[edit]

ne

  1. no!

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. not

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • ne in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • ne in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dalmatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nec, neque. Compare Italian nè, Spanish and French ni, Romanian nici.

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. neither

Deg[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. water

References[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From nen through apocope, itself a contraction of eenen, enen, the now-obsolete accusative form of een.

Pronunciation[edit]

Article[edit]

ne

  1. (Brabant) a, an
    ne man
    a man

Usage notes[edit]

ne is used primarily in the dialects that retain the three-gender split. It is only used for masculine words, while een is used for feminine and neuter words.

The form nen is used before vowels (as the English an) and certain consonants (commonly b, d and t), differing from dialect to dialect.

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl[edit]

Determiner[edit]

ne

  1. that.

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. that.

Esperanto[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. no
  2. not
  3. non-

Antonyms[edit]

Finnish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *nek, from Proto-Uralic *ne + *-k (dual ending).

For the inflectional stems ni-, see se. nii- possibly derives from ni- with the plural infix (-i-).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
  • Rhymes: -e
  • Syllabification: ne

Pronoun[edit]

ne (plural, stem nii-)

  1. (demonstrative, of things and animals) they, those (plural of the pronoun se (“it”); objects not pointed at by the speaker)
  2. (colloquial, dialectal, of people) they
    Synonym: he

Determiner[edit]

ne

  1. those, the (not pointed at by the speaker)
    Tässä ne kirjat nyt ovat.
    This is where those books are now. (lit. Here those books now are)

Inflection[edit]

The case suffixes are mostly regular (except inessive and elative singular). Abessive is never used in singular and extremely seldom in plural. Instructive niin is more or less a theoretical construction, since it has developed into an adverb, and its current meaning cannot be derived from ne.

Declension of ne
noun case singular pluraladverbial
form		 singular plural
nominative se nesuperessive siellä –
genitive sen niiden
niitten		delative sieltä –
partitive sitä niitäsublative sinne –
accusative se, sen nelative siis –
inessive siinä niissätemporal silloin –
elative siitä niistäcausative siten –
illative siihen niihinmultiplicative – –
adessive sillä niillädistributive – –
ablative siltä niiltätemp. dist. – –
allative sille niilleprolative – –
essive sinä niinäsituative – –
translative siksi niiksioppositive – –
instructive – (niin)
abessive – (niittä)
comitative – niine

Descendants[edit]

  • Kven: net
  • Meänkieli: net

See also[edit]

Finnish demonstratives
proximal medial distal
singular tämä se tuo
plural nämä ne nuo
Finnish personal pronouns
first second third anim third inan
familiar polite
singular minä sinä Te hän se
plural me te he ne

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nōn.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. (literary) not (used alone to negate a verb; now chiefly with the verbs pouvoir, savoir, cesser, oser, and daigner)
    • 1713, Voltaire, letter, Dec 1713:
      Je ne sais si je dois vous appeler Monsieur ou Mademoiselle […] .
      I don't know if I should call you Mr or Miss.
    • 1826, Victor Hugo, Bug-Jargal, XXXVIII:
      Le prince de France nous aime, celui d'Espagne ne cesse de nous secourir.
      The prince of France loves us, that of Spain never stops helping us.
    • 1868, Emile Zola, Madeleine Férat:
      Je n’ose te jurer que je t'aime toujours, parce que je sens bien que tu ne me croirais pas.
      I dare not swear that I still love you, for I sense that you would not believe me.
    • 1943, Jean-Paul Sartre, Réflexions sur la question juive:
      Mais je ne le crois pas : un homme qui trouve naturel de dénoncer des hommes ne peut avoir notre conception de l'humain […] .
      But I don't think so: a man who finds it natural to denounce men cannot have our idea of being human.
  2. not, no (used before a verb, with a subsequent element following; see Usage Notes, below)
    • 1851, Henri Murger, Le pays latin:
      Je ne sais rien de plus odieux que l'hypocrisie.
      I don't know anything more odious than hypocrisy.
    • 1998, Michel Houellebecq, Les Particules Élémentaires:
      Bruno se rendit compte qu'il ne serait jamais accepté par les hippies […] .
      Bruno realised that he'd never be accepted by the hippies.
    • 2012, Le Monde, 3 May 2012:
      "Il n’y a pas eu un truc auquel on ne s'attendait pas", affirme Stéphane Le Foll.
      ‘There wasn't anything we weren't expecting,’ stated Stéphane Le Foll.
  3. Used in a subordinate clause before a subjunctive verb (especially when the main verb expresses doubt or fear), to provide extra overtones of doubt or uncertainty (but not negating its verb); the so-called "pleonastic" or "expletive" ne.
    • 1829, Victor Hugo, Le Derner Jour d'un Condamné, XXVII:
      Ah! mes cheveux blanchiront avant que ma tête ne tombe!
      Oh! My hair will go white before my head falls!
    • 1837, George Sand, Mauprat:
      Oui, mais je crains qu'elle ne soit plus malade qu'elle ne l'avoue, repartit l'abbé.
      ‘Yes, but I think she might be more ill than she's letting on,’ the priest replied.
  4. In comparative clauses usually translated with the positive sense of the subsequent negative
    apprendre le français est plus facile qu'on ne pense
    learning French is easier than you think

Usage notes[edit]

  • Ne is typically followed by a verb and then a negative adverbial pas, plus, jamais, guère, or (now literary) point; by a negative pronoun personne or rien; or by a negative determiner, aucun or nul.
  • In colloquial French, ne is often omitted:
    Je le veux pas ― I don't want it
  • In literary French, ne can be used alone with certain verbs, as specified above.

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

German[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Contraction of nicht, dialectal net, nit, ni.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ne

  1. (colloquial) right?; is it?; is it not?; tag question
    Wir müssen da lang, ne?
    We need to go that way, don't we?
    Du hast keine Geschwister, ne?
    You don't have siblings, do you?
Synonyms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ne

  1. Alternative spelling of nee

Etymology 3[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Article[edit]

ne

  1. (nonstandard) Alternative spelling of 'ne

German Low German[edit]

Article[edit]

ne f

  1. (Paderbornisch) nominative/accusative feminine singular of en: a

Pronoun[edit]

ne m

  1. (Paderbornisch) weak accusative of hei: him

See also[edit]

Gothic[edit]

Romanization[edit]

nē

  1. Romanization of 𐌽𐌴

Hungarian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. don't, should/shall not, stop (doing something)
    Ne hallgass rá! ― Don't listen to him!
    Ne felejtsd el! or (more emphatically) El ne felejtsd! ― (Mind you) don't forget it!
    Miért ne? (= Miért ne csináljuk/tegyük?) ― Why not? (literally, “Why shouldn't [we do it]?”)
    Bár ne tettem volna! ― I wish I hadn't done it.
    Ne lopj! ― Thou shalt not steal.

Usage notes[edit]

Used before the verb in an imperative clause (or sometimes a conditional clause expressing a wish or desire) to negate that clause; ne is always used instead of nem in the imperative mood.

Derived terms[edit]

(Compound words)

Expressions

Further reading[edit]

  • ne in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Ido[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Esperanto ne, from French ne, Russian не (ne).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not, don’t

Noun[edit]

ne (plural ne-i)

  1. The name of the Latin script letter N/n.

See also[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

  • ne- (“non-, un-, in-, im-, ir- (etc.)”)

Isthmus Zapotec[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. and

Istro-Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nix, nivem, through Proto-Romanian (compare Romanian nea, Aromanian neao), from Proto-Italic *sniks, from Proto-Indo-European *snígʷʰs (“snow”), root noun derived from *sneygʷʰ- (“to snow”).

Noun[edit]

ne f (definite nevu, genitive/dative lu nevu)

  1. snow

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin inde (“thence”). Compare French en (adverb, pronoun).

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. from there
    Ne uscirono tre. ― Three of them came out from there.

Usage notes[edit]

  • The adverb ne replaces di là (“from there”):
Sono di Genova; ne sono venuto stamattina.
I am from Genova; I came from there this morning.

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. about it
    Ne ho sentito parlare. ― I have heard about it.
    Cosa ne pensi? ― What do you think about it?
  2. of it
    C'è della torta? Ne voglio una fetta. ― Is there any cake? I want a slice of it.
  3. of them (sometimes not translated in English)
    Non ne ho più. ― I've got no more (of them) left.

Usage notes[edit]

  • The pronoun ne stands for di + [pronoun], and can thus be a translation of “[preposition] + it/them” for any preposition that is translated as di in Italian.

See also[edit]

Italian personal pronouns
Number Person Gender Nominative Reflexive Accusative Dative Conjunctive Disjunctive Locative Partitive
Singular first — io mi, m', -mi me me —
second — tu ti, t', -ti te te
third m lui si2, s', -si lo, l', -lo gli, -gli glie, se2 lui, sé ci, c',
vi, v' (formal) 		ne, n'
f lei, Lei1 la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1 le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1 lei, Lei1, sé
Plural first — noi ci, c', -ci ce noi —
second — voi, Voi4 vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4 ve voi, Voi4
third m loro, Loro1 si, s', -si li, Li1, -li, -Li1 gli, -gli, loro (formal),
Loro1 		glie, se loro, Loro1, sé ci, c',
vi, v' (formal) 		ne, n'
f le, Le1, -le, -Le1
1 Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead.
2 Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive.
3 Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language.
4 Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous).

Contraction[edit]

ne

  1. Apocopic form of nel
    Massimo Troisi ha vinto un oscar per la sua interpretazione ne "Il postino".
    Massimo Troisi won an Oscar for his performance in "Il Postino".

Usage notes[edit]

  • The contraction ne is used where nel, nella, etc, would ordinarily be used, but cannot be because the article is part of the title of a film, book, etc.

See also[edit]

See also[edit]

Japanese[edit]

Romanization[edit]

ne

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ね
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ネ

Kalasha[edit]

Determiner[edit]

ne

  1. no

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. no

Karelian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Finnic *nek, from Proto-Uralic *ne. Cognates include Finnish ne and Estonian need.

Pronunciation[edit]

Determiner[edit]

ne

  1. these, those

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. these, those
  2. they (inanimate)

Declension[edit]

Declension of ne
singular plural
nominative se ne
genitive sen niijen
partitive sitä niitä
inessive siinä niissä
elative siitä niistä
illative siih niih
adessive sillä niilä
ablative siltä niiltä
essive sinä niinä
translative siksi niiksi
abessive siittä niittä
comitative niineh

See also[edit]

Karelian demonstratives
proximal medial distal
singular tämä se tuo
plural nämä ne nuo
Karelian personal pronouns
first second third anim third inan
singular mie sie hiän se
plural myö työ hyö ne

References[edit]

  • P. M. Zaykov (1999) Грамматика Карельского языка (фонетика и морфология) [Grammar of the Karelian language (phonetics and morphology)], →ISBN, page 58

Ladin[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Extended from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”) (whence Old Latin ne (“not”)).

Adverb[edit]

nē (not comparable)

  1. no, not
Derived terms[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

nē (+ subjunctive)

  1. that not, in order not to and similar; lest
    nē quem post sē hostem relinqueret ― in order not to leave any enemy behind himself
    (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 11)
    sī reliquam partem hiemis ūnō locō legiōnēs continēret, nē stipendiāriīs Aeduōrum expugnātis cūncta Gallia dēficeret ― [he feared] lest if he should confine his legions in one place for the remaining part of the winter, all Gaul would revolt when the stipendiaries of the Aedui were subdued
    (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 10)
    veritus nē noctū ex oppidō prōfugerent ― he feared lest [the enemy] should escape by night
    (Caesar, de Bello Gallico, VII, 11)
    Vereor, nē videātur ōrātiō mea stulta. :
    I fear lest my oration seem foolish.
Usage notes[edit]
  • Not to be confused with the affirmative particle ne (see Etymology 2).
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Proto-Indo-European *h₁enos (“that one”), the source also of Latin enim (“truly!, indeed!”). Cognates include Ancient Greek νή (nḗ), ναί (naí).

Interjection[edit]

nē

  1. truly!, indeed!; commonly connected with other affirmative particles

Latvian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Headset icon.svg This entry needs audio files. If you have a microphone, please record some and upload them. (For audio required quickly, visit WT:APR.)

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. not
    ne tikai ― not only
    ne visai ― not quite

Lithuanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Interjection[edit]

ne

  1. no (used to show disagreement or negation)

Livonian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. they; nominative plural of tämā

Luganda[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. and (only used if the overall statement is grammatically positive)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

The Essentials of Luganda, J. D. Chesswas, 4th edition. Oxford University Press: Nairobi. 1967, p. 94.

This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. Luganda is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

Mandarin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Romanization[edit]

ne (Zhuyin ˙ㄋㄜ)

  1. Pinyin transcription of 吶, 呐
  2. Pinyin transcription of 呢

ne

  1. Nonstandard spelling of né.
  2. Nonstandard spelling of nè.

Usage notes[edit]

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Mezquital Otomi[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Proto-Otomi [Term?], from Proto-Otomian [Term?], from Proto-Oto-Pamean *neʔ.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

ne

  1. (trans) want

Etymology 2[edit]

From Proto-Otomi *ne, from Proto-Otomian *ne, from Proto-Oto-Pamean *te/*ne, from Proto-Oto-Manguean *(Y)te(H)³.

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. mouth
  2. snout
  3. edge (of a blade)
  4. bite, sting
  5. animals at the head of the herd

References[edit]

  • Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo‎[1] (in Spanish), México, D.F.: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, pages 19, 47, 74
  • Hernández Cruz, Luis; Victoria Torquemada, Moisés (2010) Diccionario del hñähñu (otomí) del Valle del Mezquital, estado de Hidalgo (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 45)‎[2] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 210

Middle Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Dutch ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not

Usage notes[edit]

Immediately precedes the verb. Often found in combination with the synonymous niet or another negating adverb, which is placed elsewhere.

Alternative forms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Dutch: n- (prefix)

Further reading[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not (negates the accompanying verb)
    Þei ne bileveden hire nought. ― They didn't believe her.
    • 13??, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Knight's Portrait" (line 70), The Canterbury Tales.
      He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde.
  2. not (to no degree, extent, or way)
    Þou ne art weyke. ― You aren't weak.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Middle English lacks do-support. Instead, ne is simply used by itself: Puple deien, bot fame ne deieþ ("People die, but reputation does not die").
  • Middle English has negative concord, so negatives don't cancel out another, unlike formal English or Latin. ne is often accompanied by other negatives rather than used alone. Double, triple, and quadruple negatives are common: I ne oght no man noght ("I haven't owed anything to anyone," literally "I not owed no one nothing").
  • ne usually immediately precedes the verb; compare nought / nat, which usually follows it.

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • English: ne (obsolete)
  • Scots: ne (obsolete)

References[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. nor (and not, or (not), not)
  2. lest (in case, before)
  3. than (introducing a basis of comparison)

Usage notes[edit]

  • ne can contract with certain words that follow it, such as ne was → nas. This is optional, so forms like ne was → nas are possible
  • ne... ne... is often found in correlative constructions, with the meaning of not... or...; this is comparable to modern English neither... (n)or....

Descendants[edit]

  • English: ne (obsolete)
  • Scots: ne (obsolete)

References[edit]

Middle French[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not (used to negate a verb)
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 22:
      Ha ha pourdieu franc chevalier et preux ne me occisez mie
      Ha! For the love of God honest and valiant knight, don't kill me!
    • 1530, François Rabelais, Pantagruel:
      et ne m'advint oncques de mentir ou asseurer chose que ne feust veritable
      It never happened to me to lie or to assure someone of something that wasn't truthful
    • 1562, Henry IV of France, Lettres Missives:
      Catherine de Médicis, ne tarda pas à faire venir auprès de lui, en 1561, sa femme et ses enfants.
      Catherine of Medicis did not hesitate to bring to him, in 1561, his wife and his children
Usage notes[edit]
  • As in modern French, may be used in combination with another adverb, such as ne... iamais, ne... pas, ne... gaire, ne... mie, ne... oncques, ne... poin(c)t and ne... rien(s), but such an adverb is not required.

Etymology 2[edit]

See ny

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. Alternative form of ny (“neither; nor”)

Negerhollands[edit]

Verb[edit]

ne

  1. take

References[edit]

  • Language Contact in the Danish West Indies (2012, →ISBN

Northern Kurdish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Iranian *na, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *na, from Proto-Indo-European *ne. Related to na.

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not
    Ez ne kurd im.
    I'm not Kurdish.

Interjection[edit]

ne

  1. no

Northern Ndebele[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

Adjective concord, tone L
Modifier Copulative
1st singular engimune ngimune
2nd singular omune umune
1st plural esibane sibane
2nd plural elibane libane
Class 1 omune mune
Class 2 abane bane
Class 3 omune mune
Class 4 emine mine
Class 5 eline line
Class 6 amane mane
Class 7 esine sine
Class 8 ezine zine
Class 9 ene ine
Class 10 ezine zine
Class 11 olune lune
Class 14 obune bune
Class 15 okune kune
Class 17 okune kune

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Norse nið f, possibly from Proto-Germanic *nidwō (“sinking; downfall”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne n (definite singular neet, indefinite plural ne, definite plural nea)

  1. a lunar phase of an old moon, i.e. period of time in which the moon is waning
    Antonym: ny

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Old English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”)

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not
    Sēo lǣrestre ne meahte furðum mīnes naman ġemunan.
    The teacher could not even remember my name.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Old English does not have do-support. Instead, ne is simply used by itself: Menn sweltaþ, ac hlīsa ne swilt ("People die, but reputation does not die").
  • Ne is placed immediately before the finite verb.
  • Ne negates verbs. Other parts of speech are negated with nā: Iċ eom lǣċe, nā forspennend ("I'm a doctor, not a pimp"), Iċ hīe fræġn "Hū wæs þīn færeld?" and hēo cwæþ "Nā yfel" ("I asked her 'How was your trip?' and she said 'Not bad'"). Nā is also used when the verb is only implied: Ne rēċe iċ hwæðer mē hwā ġelīefe þē nā ("I don't care if anyone believes me or not").
  • Ne and its accompanying verb often come at the beginning of a sentence: Ne meahte nān mann tōcnāwan hwelċes blēos hē wǣre ("Nobody could tell what color he was," literally "Couldn't nobody tell what color he was").
  • Old English has negative concord, meaning one negative doesn't cancel out another. Double, triple, and quadruple negatives are very common: Ne sċolde iċ nǣfre nānum menn nāwiht ("I've never owed anything to anyone," literally "I never not owed no one nothing").
  • In a few verbs beginning with a vowel, h, or w, ne actually fuses with the verb, creating nesan (“to not be”), nabban (“to not have”), nyllan (“to not want”), nytan (“to not know”), and nāgan (“to not own”). In the West Saxon dialect (the dialect of most surviving texts and sometimes referred to as "standard" Old English), the contracted forms are the norm, while in other dialects the uncontracted forms ne wesan, ne habban, etc. are also common.

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. (in negative phrases) or, and not (optionally translated as "nor")
    Ne lufiġe iċ þæt beorhte sweord for his sċearpnesse, ne þone flān for his swiftnesse, ne þone cempan for his wuldre. Þæt ān iċ lufiġe þæt þe hīe beweriaþ.
    I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
  2. ne... ne... is used to mean "[not...] or..." (optionally translated as "neither... nor...")
    Hēo næfþ ne frīend ne lufiendas. Hēo hæfþ wrace.
    She doesn't have friends or lovers. She has revenge.

Usage notes[edit]

  • In the phrase "[not...] or...", ne is often used consecutively for "or": Iċ nāt ne ne rēċe hwelċes cynnes fugol hit sīe, hit is mīn frēond ("I don't know or care what kind of bird it is, it's my friend").

Descendants[edit]

  • Middle English: ne
    • Scots: ne
    • English: ne

Old French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin nec.

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not; used to form negative constructions

Descendants[edit]

  • French: ne

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. neither (not one or the other)

Descendants[edit]

  • French: ni

Old Frisian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”). Cognates include Old English ne and Old Saxon ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not

Descendants[edit]

  • North Frisian:
    Heligoland: ni

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. nor

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. no

Synonyms[edit]

References[edit]

  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old Saxon[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *ne.

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. not

Descendants[edit]

  • Middle Low German: ne, en

Pali[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Alternative scripts

Adjective[edit]

ne

  1. accusative plural masculine of na (“those”)

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. accusative plural of na (“them, those”)

Phuthi[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Romanian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • нє (pre-1860s Cyrillic form)

Etymology[edit]

From Vulgar Latin nīs, from Latin nos. Compare nă (old form) and Aromanian nã.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

ne (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)

  1. (direct object, first-person plural) us
    El ne urmează.
    He's following us.

Related terms[edit]

  • noi (stressed accusative)

Pronoun[edit]

ne (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)

  1. (indirect object) (to) us
    Ele ne dau cadouri.
    They give us presents.

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Saterland Frisian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Article[edit]

ne

  1. Alternative form of n

Scots[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /neɪ/, /nɛ/, /nə/, /n(ː)/

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. (archaic, rare) Not.
    Ne look at the sky, when ye tread bumpy roads.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    (A Northern English folk saying)

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. (archaic, rare) Nor.
    Ne mother, ne father, ne friends, ne foes ne-knew what had worthen of him.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes[edit]

  • Ne is a negative particle and it is used preverbally, i.e. it is placed directly before a verb, for example,ː"What haps might chance me I ne knew" (William Fowler (makar), 1590) and "To suffer exile he said that he ne couth" (Gavin Douglas, Virgil's Aeneid, 1513). Now archaic and chiefly dialectal, it is still understood and used by a few rural speakers in Scotland and Northern England.
  • As a conjunction, it is placed immediately before the word it negates as inː ne mickle, ne little; Twas ne man, ne woman.. ne beast; ne rich, ne poor, ne bold, ne meek, ne stong, ne weak can escape God's wrath.
  • In urban areas and cities became displaced by na or nae.

Further reading[edit]

Serbo-Croatian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

  1. not (denoting negation)
    ne znam — I don't know
    on je ne samo darovit, već i jako marljiv — he is not only talented, but also very industrious
    htio-ne htio — whether you want it or not
    da ne spavaš? / ne spavaš li? / zar ne spavaš? — aren't you sleeping?
    ne mogu, a da ne.. — I cannot but...
    reći ne — to say no; refuse, decline
    ne manje nego/od.. — no less than...
    ne doći — to fail to come, not come
    .... Zar ne? — ... Aren't you? (Isn't it?, Do you?, Don't you?)
    "neću" — I won't

Interjection[edit]

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

  1. no
    Jesi li demokrat? Ne! — Are you a democrat? No!

Synonyms[edit]

  • jok (dialectal)

Antonyms[edit]

Slovene[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation[edit]

Particle[edit]

nȅ

  1. not (negates meaning of verb)
  2. no (expresses disapproval, disagreement)

Antonyms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “ne”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Southern Ndebele[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Swazi[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

Adjective concord, tone L
Modifier Copulative
1st singular lengimune ngimune
2nd singular lomune umune
1st plural lesibane sibane
2nd plural lenibane nibane
Class 1 lomune mune
Class 2 labane bane
Class 3 lomune mune
Class 4 lemine mine
Class 5 leline line
Class 6 lamane mane
Class 7 lesine sine
Class 8 letine tine
Class 9 lene ine
Class 10 letine tine
Class 11 lolune lune
Class 14 lobune bune
Class 15 lokune kune
Class 17 lokune kune

Turkish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Ottoman Turkish نه‎ (ne, “what, whatever, how”), from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (ne, “what”), from Proto-Turkic *nē- (“what”).[1] The only Turkic root beginning with /n/. The earliest PT form must have contained a unique initial nasal, having yielded specific reflexes in modern languages.

Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰤𐰀‎ (n²a /ne/, “what, which”), Karakhanid [script needed] (nē, “what”), Old Uyghur [script needed] (ne, “what”), Azerbaijani nə (“what”), Bashkir ни (ni, “what”), Chuvash мӗн (mĕn, “what”), Kazakh не (ne, “what”), Khakas ниме (nime, “what”), Kyrgyz не (ne, “what”), Tatar ни (ni, “what”), Turkmen nǟmä (“what”), Tuvan чүү (çüü, “what”), Uyghur نېمە‎ (nëme, “what”), Uzbek na (“what”), Yakut туох (tuox, “what”).

Pronoun[edit]

ne

  1. what
    Ne istiyorsun? ― What do you want?
  2. whatever
    Ne istersen yaparım. ― I will do whatever you want.
Declension[edit]
Inflection
Nominative ne
Definite accusative neyi
Singular Plural
Nominative ne neler
Definite accusative neyi neleri
Dative neye nelere
Locative nede nelerde
Ablative neden nelerden
Genitive nenin nelerin
Related terms[edit]

Adverb[edit]

ne

  1. what, how, such
    Ne güzel! ― How beautiful!
    Ne güzel bir gün! ― What a beautiful day!
  2. Used as an intensifier to express surprise, astonishment, together with expressions like be!, ha!.
    Ne osurdun be! ― You farted such (that probably the whole world heard it).

Etymology 2[edit]

From Ottoman Turkish نه‎ (ne, “neither; nor”), from Persian نه‎ (na). Cognate to Old English ne (“not”).

Conjunction[edit]

ne

  1. neither; nor
    Ne bu ne şu ― Neither this nor that
Usage notes[edit]
  • Not used alone but rather as ne...ne..., the way it is used is directly copied from Persian نه...نه...(“neither; nor”).
Antonyms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter N.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Starostin, Sergei; Dybo, Anna; Mudrak, Oleg (2003) , “*nē-”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8), Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

Tuvaluan[edit]

Particle[edit]

ne

  1. past tense marker, inserted immediately before the relevant verb

Unami[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

në

  1. that (inanimate)

See also[edit]

Unami demonstrative pronouns
Animate Inanimate Obviative
Proximal Singular (near the speaker) wa, wàn, wàni yu, yun, yuni yul, yuli
Distal Singular (far from the speaker) na, nàn, nàni në, nën, nëni
Proximal plural (near the speaker) yuki, yuk yuli, yul nèl
Distal plural (far from the speaker) nèki, nèk nèl
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) distal singular naka
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) distal plural nèl
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) proximal singular waka

Ura (Vanuatu)[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. water
  2. river

Further reading[edit]

  • Terry Crowley, Ura: A Disappearing Language of Southern Vanuatu (1999)

Xhosa[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

Adjective concord, tone L
Modifier Copulative
positive negative positive negative
1st singular endimne endingemne ndimne andimne
2nd singular omne ongemne umne awumne
1st plural esibane esingebane sibane asibane
2nd plural enibane eningebane nibane anibane
Class 1 omne ongemne mne akamne
Class 2 abane abangebane bane ababane
Class 3 omne ongemne mne awumne
Class 4 emine engemine mine ayimine
Class 5 eline elingeline line aliline
Class 6 amane angemane mane awamane
Class 7 esine esingesine sine asisine
Class 8 ezine ezingezine zine azizine
Class 9 ene engene ine ayiyine
Class 10 ezine ezingezine zine azizine
Class 11 olune olungelune lune alulune
Class 14 obune obungebune bune abubune
Class 15 okune okungekune kune akukune
Class 17 okune okungekune kune akukune

Yup'ik[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne (absolutive ena)

  1. house

Zou[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

ne

  1. lip

Verb[edit]

ne

  1. (transitive) to eat

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • Lukram Himmat Singh (2013) A Descriptive Grammar of Zou, Canchipur: Manipur University, pages 40-41

Zulu[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective[edit]

-ne

  1. four

Inflection[edit]

Adjective concord, tone L
Modifier Copulative
positive negative positive negative
1st singular engimune engingemune ngimune angimune
2nd singular omune ongemune umune awumune
1st plural esibane esingebane sibane asibane
2nd plural enibane eningebane nibane anibane
Class 1 omune ongemune mune akamune
Class 2 abane abangebane bane ababane
Class 3 omune ongemune mune awumune
Class 4 emine engemine mine ayimine
Class 5 eline elingeline line aliline
Class 6 amane angemane mane awamane
Class 7 esine esingesine sine asisine
Class 8 ezine ezingezine zine azizine
Class 9 ene engene, engeyine ine, yine ayiyine
Class 10 ezine ezingezine zine azizine
Class 11 olune olungelune lune alulune
Class 14 obune obungebune bune abubune
Class 15 okune okungekune kune akukune
Class 17 okune okungekune kune akukune

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

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