nia

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nia"

Languages (27)

Translingual • English

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Abenaki • Bavarian • Catalan • Ese • Esperanto • French • Garo • Hulung • Ido • Indonesian • Irish • Ladin • Lisabata-Nuniali • Machiguenga • Mandarin • Murui Huitoto • Old Irish • Penobscot • Suki • Swahili • Swedish • Tetum • Timucua • Vietnamese • Wutunhua

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English Nias.

Symbol

nia

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Nias.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Nias terms

English

Etymology

From Hokkien 爾／尔 (niā, “only”).

Pronunciation

• (Singapore) IPA^(key): /njɑ(ː)˨/

Particle

nia

1. (Singlish) Only, merely, that's all; used at the end of a sentence to emphasize that something is trivial, small or undemanding.

   Synonym: (Singlish) only

   Don’t so kiam siap can anot? That one only $3 nia. ― Come on, don’t be so stingy. That’s only $3.

See also

Discourse particles in colloquial Singaporean and Malaysian English
⟵ More assertiveLess assertive ⟶
Objection	what	Assertive emphasis	lah1–14	Self-evident answer	lor2–3	Resignation	lor1, ah6	Uncertainty	leh1–2
Self-evident reason	mah	Declarative emphasis	leh3–6, one1–3, hor1, know, nia, only	Discontent; shock; coarseness	sia	Agreement-seeking	hor2	Confirmation-seeking	ah1–3, hah1–3
Skepticism	meh			Confident speculation	ba2	Tentative judgment	leh7–11, ba1
Non-pragmatic
Aspectual					liao, already
References Gupta, A. F. (1992), “The pragmatic particles of Singapore colloquial English”, in Journal of Pragmatics, volume 18, number 1, →DOI

Anagrams

• Ian, nai, INA, AIN, Ani, Ain, ani, ain', ANI, Ina, -ian, ain

Abenaki

Etymology

Cognate to Penobscot nis (“I”).

Pronoun

nia

1. I (the singular first person pronoun)

References

• Joseph Laurent (1884), New Familiar Abenakis and English Dialogues, Quebec: Leger Brousseau, page 58
• John Dyneley Prince (1902), “The Differentiation Between the Penobscot and the Canadian Abenaki Dialects”, in American Anthropologist, volume 4, page 28 of 17–32

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• nej (Northern Bavarian)

Etymology

Cognate with German nie.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) /niɐ̯/
• Rhymes: -iɐ̯

Adverb

nia

1. never

Catalan

Verb

nia

1. inflection of niar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Ese

Noun

nia

1. (anatomy) eye

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Esperanto ni

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Italic *-ā

Latin -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Italian -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Old Spanish -a

Spanish -ader.

Esperanto -a

Esperanto nia

From ni (“we”) + -a (possessive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnia/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Audio 3:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ia
• Syllabification: ni‧a

Determiner

nia (plural niaj, accusative singular nian, accusative plural niajn)

1. our, ours
   • 2025 September 29, Jorge Nogueras, “La plej mallonga tago”, in uea.facila‎^[2], archived from the original on 12 December 2025:

     Sed, almenaŭ laŭ-sperte, ĉiuj tagoj en nia vivo estas same longaj.

     But, at least according to experience, all days in our life are equally long.

See also

Esperanto personal pronouns

		singular				plural
		nominative	accusative	possessive		nominative	accusative	possessive
first person		mi	min	mia		ni	nin	nia
second person	formal	vi	vin	via		vi	vin	via
	familiar1	ci	cin	cia
third person	masculine	li	lin	lia		ili iŝi2	ilin iŝin2	ilia iŝia2
	feminine	ŝi	ŝin	ŝia
	neuter	ĝi	ĝin	ĝia
	gender-neutral2	ri ŝli	rin ŝlin	ria ŝlia
	reflexive	si	sin	sia		si	sin	sia
indefinite		oni	onin	onia		oni	onin	onia

¹ Rare.

² Not widely used.

Further reading

• “nia”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “nia”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026
• Wells, John C. (1992), “ni, our”, in Concise Esperanto and English Dictionary‎^[3], →ISBN, pages 119, 322
• Benson, Peter J. (1995), “our”, in Comprehensive English-Esperanto Dictionary‎^[4], →ISBN, page 363
• Butler, Montagu C. (1967), “ni”, in Esperanto-English Dictionary‎^[5], →OL, page 284
• Motteau, Achille (1907), “ni”, in Esperanto-English Dictionary‎^[6], →OCLC, page 99

French

Pronunciation

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Verb

nia

1. third-person singular past historic of nier

Anagrams

• n'ai

Garo

Etymology

From ni- + -a This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Verb

nia (transitive)

1. look at, watch, test, try

Hulung

Noun

nia

1. snake

References

• James T. Collins, The historical relationships of the languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983)

Ido

Pronoun

nia

1. our

Indonesian

Etymology

From Hokkien 領／领 (niá, “collar”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈni.a/
• Hyphenation: ni‧a

Noun

nia

1. (dialectal) collar

   Synonym: kerah

Further reading

• “nia”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish nïa, from Primitive Irish ᚅᚔᚑᚈᚈᚐ (niotta, genitive), from Proto-Celtic *neɸūss (compare Welsh nai), from Proto-Indo-European *népōts. Cognates include Sanskrit नपात् (nápāt), Old Persian 𐎴𐎱𐎠 (n-p-a /⁠napā⁠/), Ancient Greek ἀνεψιός (anepsiós), Latin nepos, and Old English nefa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n̠ʲiə/

Noun

nia m (genitive singular nia, nominative plural nianna)

1. nephew

Declension

Declension of nia (fourth declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative nia nianna vocative a nia a nianna genitive nia nianna dative nia nianna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an nia na nianna genitive an nia na nianna dative leis an nia don nia leis na nianna

Coordinate terms

• (gender): neacht
• (age): uncail
• (gender, age): aint, aintín

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “nia”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 nia, niae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Ladin

Adjective

nia

1. no, not (after a negative) any

Adverb

nia

1. nothing, anything
2. at all

Lisabata-Nuniali

Noun

nia

1. (Lisabata) snake

References

• James T. Collins, The historical relationships of the languages of Central Maluku, Indonesia (1983)

Machiguenga

Noun

nia

1. water
   • 1999, Bibliografía peruana, page 140:

     Ogari nia onti pairo okametiti = El agua es muy buena : libro n.o 7; machiguenga con traducción al castellano.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

• Pueblos del Perú (2006)

Mandarin

Romanization

nia

1. nonstandard spelling of niā
2. nonstandard spelling of niá
3. nonstandard spelling of niǎ
4. nonstandard spelling of nià

Usage notes

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Murui Huitoto

Etymology

Cognate with Minica Huitoto nia and Nüpode Huitoto nia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈnija]
• Hyphenation: ni‧a

Adverb

nia

1. still, yet
   • 2008 [1978], Huitoto Murui Bible, 2nd edition, Mateo 1:18:

     Naimɨe mɨcorɨ dɨga naiñaiño nia iñenia, Jesiñamui Joreño ie uaido naiñaiñona uruesitate.

     When she still wasn't married to him, the Holy Spirit impregnated her with its voice.

References

• Shirley Burtch (1983), Diccionario Huitoto Murui (Tomo I) (Linguistica Peruana No. 20)‎^[7] (in Spanish), Yarinacocha, Peru: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, page 191
• Katarzyna Izabela Wojtylak (2017), A grammar of Murui (Bue): a Witotoan language of Northwest Amazonia.‎^[8], Townsville: James Cook University press (PhD thesis), page 256

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• nïae (both senses)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈn̠ʲi.a/

Etymology 1

From Primitive Irish ᚅᚔᚑᚈᚈᚐ (niotta, genitive), from Proto-Celtic *neɸūss (compare Welsh nai), from Proto-Indo-European *népōts. Cognates include Sanskrit नपात् (nápāt), Old Persian 𐎴𐎱𐎠 (n-p-a /⁠napā⁠/), Ancient Greek ἀνεψιός (anepsiós), Latin nepos, and Old English nefa.

Noun

nïa m (genitive nïad or nïeth, nominative plural nïaid)

1. nephew, sister’s son

Inflection

Masculine t-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	nia	nïaidL, nia	nïaid
vocative	nia	nïaidL, nia	nïada
accusative	nïaidN	nïaidL, nia	nïada
genitive	nïad, nïeth	nïad, nïeth	nïadN
dative	nïaidL	nïadaib	nïadaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Coordinate terms

• (gender): necht

Descendants

• Irish: nia

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 nia, niae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Etymology 2

From Primitive Irish *ᚅᚓᚈᚐ (*neta), from Proto-Celtic *neits; beyond that uncertain. Macbain relates it to Ancient Greek ὄνειδος (óneidos, “blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃neyd- (“to revile, insult”). Matasović connects it with níth (“fight, anger”) and Gothic 𐌽𐌴𐌹𐌸 (neiþ, “hate, malice”), from Proto-Indo-European *neyH- (“to be angry”). The Primitive Irish form would result in monosyllabic [n͈ʲiːa̯] in Old Irish, and this word is disyllabic until Middle Irish. The disyllabicity must therefore to be explained as due to interference from etymology 1.

Noun

nïa m (genitive nïad or nïath, nominative plural nïaid)

1. warrior, champion
2. strength, valour

Inflection

Masculine t-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	nia	nïaidL, nia	nïaid
vocative	nia	nïaidL, nia	nïada
accusative	nïaidN	nïaidL, nia	nïada
genitive	nïad, nïath	nïad, nïath	nïadN
dative	nïaidL	nïadaib	nïadaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: nia
• Scottish Gaelic: niadh

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 nia, niae”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Mutation

Mutation of nia

radical	lenition	nasalization
nia also nnia in h-prothesis environments	nia pronounced with /nʲ-/	nia also nnia

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Penobscot

Etymology

Cognate to Abenaki nis (“I”).

Pronoun

nia

1. I (the singular first person pronoun)

References

• J. Dyneley Prince (1902), “The Differentiation Between the Penobscot and the Canadian Abenaki Dialects”, in American Anthropologist (in Penobscot), volume 4
• Frank G. Speck; Newell Lion (August 1918), “Penobscot Transformer Tales”, in International Journal of American Linguistics (in Penobscot), volume 1, number 3

Suki

Noun

nia

1. water

References

• Stephen Adolphe Wurm, Donald C. Laycock, Pacific linguistic studies in honour of Arthur Capell (1970), page 1260: The Suki word for water, nia, has certainly been borrowed from languages in the Mai Kussa-Pahoturi area (Warubi, Mikud, Agob) where it is widespread. From Suki it will have found its way into Zimakani (neia).

Swahili

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic نَوَى (nawā)

Arabic نِيَّة (niyya)bor.

Swahili nia

Borrowed from Arabic نِيَّة (niyya).

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

nia class IX (plural nia class X)

1. intention
2. purpose

Verb

-nia (infinitive kunia)

1. to decide, intend, resolve

Conjugation

Conjugation of -nia
Positive present -nania Subjunctive -nie Negative -nii Imperative singular nia
Infinitives
Positive kunia Negative kutonia
Imperatives
Singular nia Plural nieni
Tensed forms
Habitual hunia Positive past positive subject concord + -linia Negative past negative subject concord + -kunia
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nania) Singular Plural 1st person ninania/nania tunania 2nd person unania mnania 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anania wanania other classes positive subject concord + -nania
Negative present (negative subject concord + -nii) Singular Plural 1st person sinii hatunii 2nd person hunii hamnii 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hanii hawanii other classes negative subject concord + -nii
Positive future positive subject concord + -tania Negative future negative subject concord + -tania
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -nie) Singular Plural 1st person ninie tunie 2nd person unie mnie 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anie wanie other classes positive subject concord + -nie
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sinie Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngenia Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singenia Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalinia Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalinia
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -ania) Singular Plural 1st person nania twania 2nd person wania mwania 3rd person m-wa(I/II) ania wania m-mi(III/IV) wania yania ji-ma(V/VI) lania yania ki-vi(VII/VIII) chania vyania n(IX/X) yania zania u(XI) wania see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwania pa(XVI) pania mu(XVIII) mwania
Perfect positive subject concord + -menia "Already" positive subject concord + -meshania "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jania "If/When" positive subject concord + -kinia "If not" positive subject concord + -siponia Consecutive kania / positive subject concord + -kania Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kanie
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -ninia -tunia 2nd person -kunia -wania/-kunieni/-wanieni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mnia -wania m-mi(III/IV) -unia -inia ji-ma(V/VI) -linia -yania ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kinia -vinia n(IX/X) -inia -zinia u(XI) -unia see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kunia pa(XVI) -pania mu(XVIII) -munia Reflexive -jinia
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -nia- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -niaye -niao m-mi(III/IV) -niao -niayo ji-ma(V/VI) -nialo -niayo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -niacho -niavyo n(IX/X) -niayo -niazo u(XI) -niao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -niako pa(XVI) -niapo mu(XVIII) -niamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -nia) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yenia -onia m-mi(III/IV) -onia -yonia ji-ma(V/VI) -lonia -yonia ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chonia -vyonia n(IX/X) -yonia -zonia u(XI) -onia see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -konia pa(XVI) -ponia mu(XVIII) -monia
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

Swedish

Etymology 1

From the digit nio (“nine”).

Noun

nia c

1. nine; the digit "9"
2. ninth-grader; pupil in the ninth and last year of compulsory school
3. a class of ninth-graders
4. (uncountable, mainly used in the definite) the ninth year in school

   De barnen går i nian.

   Those children are in ninth grade.

5. a person who finish a competition as number nine
6. (slang) a face

Declension

Declension of nia

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	nia	nias
	definite	nian	nians
plural	indefinite	nior	niors
	definite	niorna	niornas

See also

• nolla, etta, tvåa, trea, fyra, femma, sexa, sjua, åtta, nia, tia, elva, tolva

Etymology 2

From ni (“you”) +‎ -a, a common way of forming verbs in Swedish. First attested in 1731.

Verb

nia (present niar, preterite niade, supine niat, imperative nia)

1. to address someone as ni (as opposed to du (or with a title))

Usage notes

• See the Wikipedia article on du-reformen for context.
• The term nia has varied considerably over time and location. After the 1960s and 1970s, the word du has in Sweden been used almost exclusively as second person personal pronoun, with a slight change in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when, for example, staff in restaurants and shops began to use ni towards the customers. Before the 1960s, however, there was a difference in use between Sweden and Finland: in both cases du was mainly used within family, among close friends, and when speaking to children. In Sweden, people with higher social statuses usually were addressed with surname and/or title, or if those were unknown, by reconstructing the sentence to use the passive voice or by using herr (Mr.), fru (Mrs.), or fröken (Miss), whereas people with lower statuses were addressed using ni. In Finland, the difference in status was not as commonly taken into account, and instead ni was used as the polite choice of pronoun regardless of social status.

Conjugation

Conjugation of nia (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	nia		nias
supine	niat		niats
imperative	nia		—
imper. plural1	nien		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	niar	niade	nias	niades
ind. plural1	nia	niade	nias	niades
subjunctive2	nie	niade	nies	niades
present participle		niande
past participle		niad

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

See also

• dua

References

• “nia”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “nia”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “nia”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• Ina, ina

Tetum

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ni-a, compare Malay dia and Nias ia and Tagalog niya.

Pronoun

nia

1. he

Timucua

Etymology

Compare Tawasa néăh (“woman”).

Noun

nia

1. woman

References

• Julian Granberry, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language (1993, →ISBN

Vietnamese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [niə˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [niə˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [niə˧˧]

Noun

nia • (𥬩) (classifier cái, chiếc)

1. small winnowing basket

   Hypernym: nong

Anagrams

• nai

Wutunhua

Etymology

Related to Wutunhua ni, from Mandarin 你 (nǐ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [n̪ʲa]

Pronoun

nia

1. you (second-person non-subject pronoun)

See also

Wutunhua personal pronouns

	singular		paucal	collective
	subjective	objective
first person	ngu	nga	ngu-jhege	nga-mu
second person	ni	nia	ni-jhege	ni-mu
third person	gu		gu-jhege	gu-mu