này

See also: nay, Nay, NAY, näy, nạy, nãy, nậy, nảy, nấy, nầy, nẩy, ñay, ŋay, and n'ay

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

Etymology

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 nay (“now”) and Central Vietnamese ni (“this”).

Part of the n-series of demonstratives, along with nấy, nớ, nọ, nè.

Pronunciation
  • (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [naj˨˩]
  • (Huế) IPA(key): [naj˦˩]
  • (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [na(ː)j˨˩]
  • Audio (Hồ Chí Minh City)(file)

Determiner

này

  1. this
    Cái thằng dở hơi này!
    You butthead!

See also
Vietnamese demonstratives
Laurence Thompson (1965), Vietnamese Grammar
UnspecifiedClose 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

Adverb

này • (呢)

  1. here
  • nay (“now”)

Particle

này

  1. prefixes someone's name or kinship title, used to call for their attention
    Này ai ơi! ― Hey there!
    này Lan ― hey Lan
  2. suffixes someone's name or kinship title, usually functions both as a focus marker and signaling a question
    Synonym: nè
    Khoa này, nghe nói em sắp chuyển nhà hả?
    Is it true that you are about to move out, Khoa?

Usage notes
  • Its usage as a vocative marker similar to English o or hey seems to restrict to the literary register and translation.
  • Also used in insults similarly to Japanese この (kono).
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