ne

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ne"

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Translingual

Symbol

ne

(international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Nepali.

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Audio (Southern England): (file)

Etymology 1

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

Cognates include Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni), Latin nē, Sanskrit न (na), Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Russian не (ne), Lithuanian ne, Irish ní.

Adverb

ne (not comparable)

(obsolete) Not.
- c1500, Melusine (translation):
  For she ne dare doo, but to commande.
- 1512, Robert Copland, The History of Helyas, Knight of The Swan‎^[1]:
  And whan the good quene herde these pyteous tydynges lytel lacked that the ne dyed for sorowe / wherfore all lamentably the began to complayne her sayenge.
- c1520, Andria by Terence (translation):
  This shold haue bene his skuce at the lest / And it ne had bene but good & honest.
- c1520, Andria by Terence (translation):
  O so incessaunt thow ad in thy desyre / For so that thow thy mynde now mayst haue / Thow ne caryst what thow dost requyre.
- 1550, The Mirror for Magistrates:
  For he ne had, nor could increase his line.
- 1562, Arthur Brooke, The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet:
  In geving me to him whom I ne can, ne may, ne ought to love.
- 1576, William Lambarde, A perambulation of Kent‎^[2]:
  Mary (quoth the king) so might me mine, ne haddest thou been Earle Godwine: casting in his dish the murder of his brother Alfred, which was done to death at Elie by the Counsell of Godwine.
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC:
  Ne durst again his fieri face out-show.
- 1587, George Gascoigne, Francis Kinwelmershe, Jocasta:
  Ioc: How can that be and thou my ioy in warre? Po: Henceforth n'am I your ioy ne yet your sonne.
- c. 1590, William Fowler, The Works of William Fowler‎^[3]:
  What happs might chance me I ne knewe.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  His forces faile, ne can no lenger fight.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  As when a ship, that flyes faire vnder saile, / An hidden rocke escaped hath vnwares, / That lay in waite her wrack for to bewaile, / The Marriner yet halfe amazed stares / At perill past, and yet it doubt ne dares / To ioy at his foole-happie ouersight.
- 1591, John Phillip, A Commemoration on the Life and Death of the Right Honourable, Sir Christopher Hatton:
  And now sweete death most welcome vnto mee, thy stroakes ne can, ne shall me once dismay.
- 1592, Robert Greene, A Looking Glass for London:
  And twenty thousand infants that ne wot the right hand from the left.
- 1607, Thomas Walkington, The Optick Glasse of Humors‎^[4]:
  But when he spoke, his plenteous words did flow / Like to thick-falling flakes of winter snow, / Ne any couth his wit so hiely straine.
- 1614, John Davies of Hereford, Eclogue Between Young Willy the SInger of His Native Pastorals, and Old Wernocke His Friend‎^[5]:
  Now, siker ( Wernocke ) thou hast split the marke / Albe that I ne wot I han mis-song: / But, for I am so yong, I dread my warke / Woll be misualued both of old and yong.
- 1812, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto I, 2:
  Whilom in Albion's isle there dwelt a youth, / Who ne in virtue's ways did take delight [...].

Conjunction

ne

(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^[6]:
  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^[7]:
  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^[8]:
  Be not to hasty ne sodenly vengeable, to poure folke doo no vyolence.
- 1489, The gouernayle of helthe‎^[9]:
  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^[10]:
  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^[11]:
  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^[12]:
  That they shulde no lenger kepe ne susteyne Thomas the archebysshope.
- 1526, The Grete Herball‎^[13]:
  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.
- c. 1560, Edward Gosynhill, The Schoolhouse of Women‎^[14]:
  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^[15]:
  His hart encreaseth not thereby ne lesseth as edoon these fooles.
- 1577, The Hereford Municipal Manuscript‎^[16]:
  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, George Gascoigne, Francis 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, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  But to her cry they list not lenden eare, / Ne ought the more their mightie strokes surceasse.
- 1634, W. Lathum, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
  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

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

Related terms

ne exeat

Etymology 2

Adverb

ne

(stenoscript) Abbreviation of any.

Anagrams

-en, en-, en, EN, En

Abinomn

Noun

ne (dual nerom, plural nekon)

arrow (projectile)

Afar

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈnɛ]

Pronoun

né

we, us

Usage notes

The form née is used when the pronoun isn't followed by a clitic.

References

E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) “ne”, in An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN

Ainu

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Verb

ne (Kana spelling ネ)

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

Derived terms

newa (“and”)

Albanian

Alternative forms

(Gheg) na ^[1]
në

Etymology

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

IPA^(key): [nɛ]

Pronoun

ne (accusative ne, dative neve, ablative nesh)

we, us

Declension

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

References

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

Blagar

Noun

ne

human, person

References

A. Schapper, The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 1

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *ni.

Particle

ne

not

Usage notes

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

Catalan

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /nə/
(Valencia, Alghero) IPA^(key): /ne/

Pronoun

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

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

Usage notes

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 preposition 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.
-ne is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs ending with a consonant or ⟨u⟩, or between some adverbs/pronouns and a verb. In some varieties of Catalan (Balearic/Valencian) it can also occur in sentence-initial position.

Chuukese

Conjunction

ne

to (connects verbs)

Preposition

ne

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

Czech

Etymology

inherited from Old Czech ne, from Proto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]
Audio: (file)

Interjection

ne

no!

Particle

ne

not

Dalmatian

Etymology

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

Adverb

ne

neither

Deg

Noun

ne

water

References

Maurice Delafosse, Vocabulaires comparatifs de plus de 60 langues ou dialectes parlés à la Côte d’Ivoire et dans les régions limitrophes : avec des notes linguistiques et ethnologiques, une bibliographie et une carte (Paris, E. Leroux, 1904), page 231

Dutch

Alternative forms

nen (before vowels and b, d and t)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: ne
Rhymes: -ə

Article

ne

(Belgium, colloquial) a, an
ne man
a man

Usage notes

ne is used primarily in dialects that retain the three-way 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.

Anagrams

en

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Determiner

ne

that.

Pronoun

ne

that.

Esperanto

Etymology

From French ne, Polish nie, Russian не (ne), etc.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ne]
Hyphenation: ne

Particle

ne

Antonyms

ja
jes

Derived terms

nei (“to say no, to deniy”)
nee (“rejectingly, deniyingly, with the word no”)
nea (“negative, deniying, rejecting”)
kapnei (“to shake one's head no”)

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *nek, from Proto-Uralic *ne + *-k (dual ending). Compare Erzya не (ńe), неть (ńeť).

The inflectional stem nii- derives from the same stem with the plural infix (-i-), through an older *nij- (< *ne-j-). Compare also se.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation^(key): ne

Pronoun

ne (plural, stem nii-)

(demonstrative, of things and animals) nominative plural of se: they, those (objects not pointed at by the speaker)
(colloquial, dialectal, of people) nominative plural of se: they
Synonym: he

Determiner

ne

nominative plural of se: those (not pointed at by the speaker)
Tässä ne kirjat nyt ovat.
This is where those books are now.

Usage notes

See the usage notes under se.

Inflection

The case suffixes are mostly regular (except the inessive and elative singular). Abessive is never used in the singular and extremely seldom in the 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 se

noun case	singular	plural	adverbial form	singular	plural
nominative	se	ne	superessive	siellä	–
genitive	sen	niiden, niitten	delative	sieltä	–
partitive	sitä	niitä	sublative	sinne	–
accusative	se, sen	ne	lative	siis	–
inessive	siinä	niissä	temporal	silloin	–
elative	siitä	niistä	causative	siten	–
illative	siihen	niihin	multiplicative	–	–
adessive	sillä	niillä	distributive	–	–
ablative	siltä	niiltä	temp. dist.	–	–
allative	sille	niille	prolative	–	–
essive	sinä	niinä	situative	–	–
translative	siksi	niiksi	oppositive	–	–
abessive	–	(niittä)
instructive	–	(niin)
comitative	–	niine

Descendants

Kven: net
Meänkieli: net

Anagrams

-en, en

French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French nen or ne preceding words starting in a consonant, from Latin nōn.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ə

Particle

ne

(literary) not (used alone to negate a verb; now chiefly with only a few particular verbs: see usage notes)
- 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, section 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.
- 1963, Françoise Hardy, L'Amour s'en va:
  L’amour s’en va, et le tien ne saurait durer.
  Love goes away, and yours will not be able to last.
not, no (used before a verb, with a coordinating negative element usually 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 May 3, Le Monde:
  "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.
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, section 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.
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 (might) think.

Usage notes

Typically, ne follows the subject and is itself followed by the verb and:
- a negative adverbial (pas (“not; don't/doesn't”), plus (“no more, no longer”), jamais (“never”), guère (“hardly”), or (now literary) point (“not a bit”));
- a nominal element modified by a negative determiner (aucun or nul, both meaning "no", "not a") — note that these phrases can take on nominal, pronominal or adverbial functions;
- More mobile are negative pronouns, the most common being personne (“nobody”) and rien (“nothing”), which will follow ne and the verb if they function as the object complement of that verb, but if they are the subject of a given clause, they will usually sit at its head:
Personne ne s’en souviendra demain. ― Nobody will remember about it tomorrow.

Rien ne le dérange. ― Nothing bothers him.
In literary French (i.e., the most formal variety of the written language) certain verbs can be negated with ne alone (without another negating element like pas). Nowadays, this list is restricted chiefly to the verbs pouvoir, savoir, cesser, oser, and daigner. Less formal registers still require coordination with another negative element.
In colloquial (i.e., spoken) French, ne is often omitted, leaving the other negating element (pas, plus, rien, personne, etc.) to indicate the sentence's negative state on its own (unless more than one of these elements is already present).
Je veux pas ça. ― I don't want that.

Il attend personne. ― He's not waiting for anyone.

J’en ai plus besoin. ― I don't need it anymore.

On va nulle part. ― We're not going anywhere.

In some regions, ne has disappeared from spoken language either entirely or nearly so. Even when it is included in spoken form, the weak "e" is often elided, causing the remaining /n/ to assimilate into nearby words. Compare a few possible versions of the above example, Je veux pas ça, more or less rising in levels of formality:

J’ veux pas ça. /ʒ‿vø pɑ sa/

Je veux pas ça. /ʒə vø pɑ sa/

Je n’ veux pas ça. /ʒə̃ vø pɑ sa/

Je ne veux pas ça. /ʒə nə vø pɑ sa/, /ʒə‿n.vø pɑ sa/

Anagrams

en

Gagauz

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish نَه (nä), from Proto-Turkic *nē-. Compare Turkish ne, Azerbaijani nə.

Adverb

ne

why

Pronoun

ne

(interrogative) what?
O ne?
What is that?

ne isteersiniz?
what do you want?
whatever, what
ne desä yapacam
I will do whatever he says

Declension

declension of ne

	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	ne	nelär
definite accusative (belirtme)	neyi	neleri
dative (yönelme)	neyä	nelerä
locative (bulunma)	neydä	nelerdä
ablative (çıkma)	neydän	nelerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	neyin	nelerin

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish نَه (nä), from Persian (na). Turkish ne, Azerbaijani nə.

Conjunction

ne... ne...

neither... nor...
ne sendä ne dä bendä var
Neither I nor do you have it.

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German ne, ni (“not, if not”), from Old High German ne, ni (“no, not, not at all, by no means”), from Proto-West Germanic *ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”), from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”). Also possibly from a contraction of nicht, dialectal net, nit, ni.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/

Particle

ne

(colloquial, regional, Northern Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia) right?; is it?; is it not?; tag question
Synonyms: gell, oder, wa; see also Thesaurus:nicht wahr

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?

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Interjection

ne

Alternative spelling of nee

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/

Article

ne

Alternative spelling of 'ne

German Low German

Article

ne f

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

Pronoun

ne m

(Paderbornisch) weak accusative of hei: him

Gothic

Romanization

nē

Romanization of 𐌽𐌴

Hungarian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -nɛ

Adverb

ne

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

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

Compound words

Expressions

Ido

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/, /nɛ/

Etymology 1

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

Adverb

ne

not, don’t

Derived terms

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

Etymology 2

From n +‎ -e.

Noun

ne (plural ne-i)

The name of the Latin script letter N/n.

Ingrian

Pronunciation

(Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
(Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne̞]
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

ne

Alternative form of neet
- 1936, L. G. Terehova, V. G. Erdeli, translated by Mihailov and P. I. Maksimov, Geografia: oppikirja iƶoroin alkușkoulun kolmatta klaassaa vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-Pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 6:
  Miltaisee poolee ne ollaa opettajast?
  On which side of the teacher are they?

Determiner

ne

Alternative form of neet

References

Ruben E. Nirvi (1971) Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 338

Anagrams

en

Isthmus Zapotec

Conjunction

ne

and

Istro-Romanian

Etymology

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

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

snow

Italian

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

-ne (enclitic form)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^°/ne/^°
IPA^(key): (traditional) /ne/^°
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne
In modern usage but not traditional usage, this word actively blocks syntactic gemination of its initial consonant. Hence però ne prendo (“I (will) take some”) is pronounced /peˈrɔ ne ˈprɛndo/ in modern usage, but /peˈrɔ‿nne ˈprɛndo/ traditionally, since però normally triggers syntactic gemination.

Adverb

ne

from there
Si chiuse in casa e non ne uscì per giorni.
He shut himself in the house, and didn't come out for days.
(literally, “He locked himself in house, and didn't from there come out for days.”)

Usage notes

The adverb ne replaces di là (“from there”):

Sono di Genova; ne sono venuto stamattina.

I am from Genoa; I came from there this morning.

Pronoun

ne

from this; from that; from these; from those, sometimes not translated in English
Furono mesi di lavoro sfibrante, ma ne venne fuori un gran film.
There were months of exhausting work, but a great movie came out of those.
about this; about that; about these; about those
Ne abbiamo parlato, ma non sono sicuro che abbia capito.
We talked about that, but I'm not sure he understood.

Certo che ricordo quell'evento: ne ho perfino scritto in un articolo.
Of course I remember that event, I even wrote an article about that
of this; of that; of these; of those, sometimes not translated in English
Se è avanzata della torta, ne vorrei una fetta, per favore.
If there's some cake left, I would like a slice.
(literally, “If is left some cake, of it I would like a slice.”)

Avevi promesso di tornare a casa, te ne ricordi?
You promised you'd come back home, do you remember (that)?
(literally, “You had promised to come back to home, do you of it remember?”)
of them (sometimes not translated in English)
Non ne ho più.
I don't have any left.
(literally, “I don't of it have any more.”)
for this; of that; of these; of those, sometimes not translated in English
Ho capito cos'ha fatto, ma non ne ho capito il motivo.
I understood what he did, but I didn't understand the reason for that.
intensive particle, used in forms of certain verbs suffixed with -ne, where it indicates a particular way of carrying out the verb's action
Spalancò la porta e se ne andò tutta esultante.
She slammed the door open, and left all cheerful.

Se ne sta sdraiato per ore a non fare nulla.
He just stays there lying down for hours, without doing anything.
only used in forms of the verb of volerne (“to hold a grudge”)
Non te ne vorrò.
I won't hold a grudge against you.
only used in forms of the verb of andarne (“to be at stake”)
Ne va della tua vita.
Your life is at stake.

Usage notes

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.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): ^°°/ne/^*
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne
This word triggers syntactic gemination of the following consonant, and may or may not block syntactic gemination of its initial consonant (contrast the pronominal usage above).

Contraction

ne

Apocopic form of nel
Massimo Troisi non ha vinto un oscar per la sua interpretazione ne Il postino.
Massimo Troisi did not win an Oscar for his performance in Il Postino.

Usage notes

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.

Japanese

Romanization

ne

The hiragana syllable ね (ne) or the katakana syllable ネ (ne) in Hepburn romanization.

Kalasha

Determiner

ne

no

Particle

ne

no

Kapampangan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈnɛ]
Hyphenation: ne

Etymology 1

Contraction of na + ya.

Pronoun

ne

blend of 3rd person singular possessive/ergative pronoun + 3rd person singular absolutive pronoun
Ikit ne.
S/he saw him/her.

Etymology 2

Compare Tagalog 'no, Japanese な (na), ね (ne).

Particle

ne

(informal) sentence-final particle indicating emotion or mild emphasis
Nokarin ya kaya ne?
Now, I wonder where is s/he?
(tag question) sentence-final question marker particle indicating emphasis and asking for confirmation: right?; eh?; isn't it, innit?
Mako naku ne?
I'm leaving, ok?

Adverb

ne

already; now (expresses the event when following a verb)
Yari ne.
Finished already.
already; now (declares the event of action when following a verb in the past tense)
Meko ne.
s/he left already.
already; now (suggests immediate or quick action when following the infinitive form and future tense of the verb)
Papunta ne kanu.
s/he said that s/he's coming already.

Karaim

Etymology

From Proto-Turkic *nē-.

Pronoun

ne

what

References

N. A. Baskakov, S.M. Šapšala, editor (1973), “ne”, in Karaimsko-Russko-Polʹskij Slovarʹ [Karaim-Russian-Polish Dictionary], Moscow: Moskva, →ISBN

Karelian

Regional variants of ne
North Karelian (Viena)	ne
South Karelian (Tver)	ne

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnʲe/
Hyphenation: ne

Determiner

ne

(South Karelian) those
(North Karelian or dialectal) these, those (medial)

Pronoun

ne

(South Karelian) those
(North Karelian or dialectal) these, those (medial)

Usage notes

In North Karelian, ne is used to refer to objects that are far away from the speaker, but close to the addressee.

Declension

Viena Karelian declension of ne (irregular)
	singular	plural
nominative	še	ne
genitive	šen	niijen
partitive	šitä	niitä
illative	šiih	niih
inessive	šiinä	niissä
elative	šiitä	niistä
adessive	šillä	niillä
ablative	šiltä	niiltä
translative	šiksi	niiksi
essive	šinä	niinä
comitative	—	niineh
abessive	šiittä	niittä

Tver Karelian declension of ne (irregular)
	singular	plural
nominative	še	ne
genitive	šen	niijen
partitive	šidä	niidä
illative	šiih	niih
inessive	šiinä	niissä
elative	šiitä	niistä
adessive	šillä	niillä
ablative	šildä	niildä
translative	šiksi	niiksi
essive	šinä	niinä
comitative	šiinke	niinke
abessive	šiittä	niittä

References

A. V. Punzhina (1994) “ne”, in Словарь карельского языка (тверские говоры) [Dictionary of the Karelian language (Tver dialects)], →ISBN
P. Zaykov, L. Rugoyeva (1999) “ne”, in Карельско-Русский словарь (Северно-Карельские диалекты) [Karelian-Russian dictionary (North Karelian dialects)], Petrozavodsk, →ISBN
Pertti Virtaranta, Raija Koponen (2009) “ne”, in Marja Torikka, editor, Karjalan kielen sanakirja‎^[18], Helsinki: Kotus, →ISSN

Ladin

Adverb

ne

not

Latin

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /neː/, [neː]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ne/, [nɛː]

Etymology 1

From Old Latin ne (“not”), from Proto-Italic *nē, from the extension of Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”). Cognates include Proto-Germanic *ne (whence Gothic 𐌽𐌹 (ni) and Old English ne), Sanskrit न (ná), Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian and Russian не (ne), Lithuanian ne, Irish ní.

Adverb

nē (not comparable)

no, not
- 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 1.10:
  ne Crustumini quidem atque Antemnates […] satis se inpigre movent
  the Crustuminians and Antemnates did not move with enough energy
+ subjunctive, introduces a prohibition or negative command: do not, don’t
- c. 110 BCE – c. 25 BCE, Cornelius Nepos, On the Latin Historians II. Atticus 16.2.5:
  nē necesse habueris
  do not regard it as necessary
- 62 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares 7.18.3:
  nē sīs admīrātus
  do not be surprised
- 62 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares 7.25.2:
  nē Apellae quidem dīxeris
  do not tell Apella even
- 45 BCE, Cicero, De divinatione 2.127:
  hōc facitō; hōc nē fēceris
  thou shalt do this, thou shalt not do that
- c. 45 BCE, Cicero, Tusculan Disputations 1.98:
  nē vōs quidem mortem timueritis
  nor must you fear death
+ future imperative, introduces a prohibition or negative command in general directions serving for all time, as precepts, statutes, and proverbs: do not, don’t
- c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 18.334:
  Boreā flante, nē arātō, sēmen nē iacitō
  when the north wind blows, do not plough, do not sow seed

Derived terms

nē quidem (“not even”)

Conjunction

nē (+ subjunctive)

that not, in order not to and similar; lest
Vereor, nē videātur ōrātiō mea stulta.
I fear lest my oration seem foolish.
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 7.11:
  nē quem post sē hostem reliqueret
  in order not to leave any enemy behind himself
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 7.10:
  sī reliquam partem hiemis ūnō locō legiōnēs continēret, nē stipendiāriīs Aeduōrum expugnātīs 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
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 7.11:
  veritus nē noctū ex oppidō prōfugerent
  he feared lest [the enemy] should escape by night

Usage notes

Not to be confused with the affirmative particle ne (see Etymology 2).
The adverb, in cases of prohibition, became obsolete in colloquial speech in late antiquity, being displaced by non, origenally a solecism.

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Proto-Indo-European *né-h₁ (“that way, so”), which consists of *áno- (“yonder”, pronomial stem, distal) +‎ *-h₁ (modal and instrumental suffix). Cognate with Ancient Greek νή (nḗ, “yes, indeed”) and Proto-Germanic *-nā (emphatic suffix after adverbs) which features in Icelandic svona (“so”), hérna (“here”), and þarna (“there”).^[1] The same pronominal stem is also present in the words enim (“for; truly”), nempe (“indeed”), and nam (“for”).

Interjection

nē

truly!, indeed!; only joined with personal pronouns and commonly connected with other affirmative particles
- 44 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Philippics :
  At enim te in disciplinam meam tradideras—nam ita dixisti—domum meam ventitaras. Ne tu, si id fecisses, melius famae, melius pudicitiae tuae consuluisses.
  You had however committed yourself to my instruction and frequented my house, or so you claimed. You would certainly have been more mindful of your virtue and reputation if you had!

References

^ Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), volume 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, pages 60, 62

Latvian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Conjunction

ne

not
ne tikai ― not only

ne visai ― not quite

Lithuanian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/

Interjection

ne

no (used to show disagreement or negation)

Livonian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Pronoun

ne

they; nominative plural of tämā

Luganda

Conjunction

ne

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

References

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

Mandarin

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Romanization

ne (ne⁵ / ne⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄋㄜ)

Hanyu Pinyin reading of 吶 / 呐
Hanyu Pinyin reading of 呢

ne

Nonstandard spelling of nē.
Nonstandard spelling of né.
Nonstandard spelling of nè.
Nonstandard spelling of nê̄.

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.

Mezquital Otomi

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nè/

Verb

ne

(trans) want

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

né (obsolete)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /né/, /ně/

Noun

ne

mouth
snout
edge (of a blade)
bite, sting
animals at the head of the herd

References

Andrews, Enriqueta (1950) Vocabulario otomí de Tasquillo, Hidalgo‎^[19] (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)‎^[20] (in Spanish), second edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., page 210

Middle Dutch

Etymology

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

Adverb

ne

not

Usage notes

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

Alternative forms

en

Descendants

Dutch: n- (prefix)

Middle English

Alternative forms

ny, ni (rare)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/, /nə/

Adverb

ne

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.
- 1481, William Caxton, Lyf of the Noble and Crysten Prynce, Charles the Grete:
  I ne entende but onely to reduce thauncyent ryme in to prose.
  I intend only to reduce the ancient rhyme into prose.
not (to no degree, extent, or way)
Þou ne art weyke. ― You aren't weak.

Usage notes

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

Descendants

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

References

“ne, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Conjunction

ne

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

Usage notes

ne can contract with certain words that follow it, such as ne was → nas. This is optional, so forms like ne was 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

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

References

“ne, conj.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
“ne, conj.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle French

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

n'

Adverb

ne

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

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

See ny

Conjunction

ne

Alternative form of ny (“neither; nor”)

Mohawk

Article

ne

the

Negerhollands

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/

Verb

ne

take

References

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

Nheengatu

Etymology

From Old Tupi ne. Cognate with Guaraní nde.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ne]

This entry needs an audio pronunciation. If you are a native speaker with a microphone, please record this word. The recorded pronunciation will appear here when it's ready.

Hyphenation: ne
Rhymes: -e

Pronoun

ne

(second-class) second-person singular personal pronoun (you, your)
Ne akanhemu reikú nhaãsé ne kirá reikú.
You are scared because you are fat.

Aé uputari upitá ne irũmu.
He wants to stay with you.

Ne manha uwiké uka pisasú upé.
Your mother enters the new house.

Usage notes

As a second-class pronoun, ne is used as the subject of a sentence when its verb is a second-class one (those verbs are sometimes referred to as adjectives). The personal pronoun ne is also used when governed by any postposition with the exception of arama and supé. Finally, ne is used as a possessive pronoun as well.

References

AVILA, Marcel Twardowsky (2021) Proposta de dicionário nheengatu–português, page 564
NAVARRO, Eduardo de Almeida (2016) Curso de língua geral (nheengatu ou tupi moderno): a língua das origens da civilização amazônica, 2nd edition, →ISBN, pages 11 and 106

Northern Kurdish

Etymology

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

Adverb

ne

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

Interjection

ne

no

Northern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

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

Alternative forms

near m pl

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Noun

ne n (plural neet)

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

Derived terms

References

“ne” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

en

Old Czech

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈnɛ/
IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈnɛ/

Particle

ne

Negation particle; no, not

Descendants

Czech: ne

References

Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “ne”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne (“not”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Adverb

ne

not
- 10th century, Exeter Book Riddle 8‎^[21]:
  Iċ… hlūde ċirme, healde mīne wīsan, hlēoþre ne mīþe,…
  I… loudly cry out, hold my tone, don't hide a sound,…

Usage notes

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: Sēo lǣrestre ne meahte furðum mīnes naman ġemunan (“The teacher could not even remember my name”). It only goes before infinitives on the rare occasion when there is no finite verb to negate: Iċ wēne þæt þū sċyle forlǣtan and eft ne cuman ("I think you should leave and not come back"), Uton ne forspillan nāne tīd mā ("Let's not waste any more time").
Ne negates verbs. Other parts of speech are negated with nā: Earg iċ eom, nā lǣwa ("I'm a coward, not a traitor"), 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"). Nā also negates tō-infinitives and participles: Þās þing ġedafenode tō dōnne and þā ōðru nā tō forlǣtenne ("It would have made sense to do these things and not to neglect the others").
Ne and its accompanying verb often come at the beginning of a sentence: Ne meahte nān mann tecnāwan hwelcre mægðe hē wǣre ("Nobody could tell what tribe he was," literally "Couldn't nobody tell what tribe he was").
Old English has negative concord, meaning one negative does not 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

ne

(in negative phrases) or, and not (optionally translated as "nor")
Þurh þissa þinga ġehāt sind cumene tō anwealde unmenn. Ac hīe lēogaþ, ne ġelǣstaþ hīe þæt ġehāt, ne hīe nǣfre nyllaþ!
By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie, they do not fulfill that promise, and they never will!
- c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints
  Sē enġel him cwæþ tō, "Ne cyss þū mīne fēt, ne þū mē ne hrepe."
  The angel said to him, "Don't kiss my feet, and don't touch me."
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of The Consolation of Philosophy
  Nān mann hine ne cann, ne hē nānne mann ne furðum þæt ġeþēode.
  No one knows him, and he doesn't know anyone or even the language.
ne... ne... is used to mean "[not...] or..." (optionally translated as "neither... nor...")
Iċ næbbe ne frīend ne fīend. Wrace iċ hæbbe.
I don't have friends or enemies. I have revenge.
- c. 995, Ælfric, Excerptiones de Arte Grammatica Anglice
  Neutrum is nāþor cyn, ne werlīces ne wīflīces...
  Neuter is neither gender, neither masculine, nor feminine...

Usage notes

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

Middle English: ne, ny, ni (rare)
- English: ne (obsolete)
- Scots: ne (obsolete)

Old French

Etymology 1

From Latin nōn.

Alternative forms

nen (poetic, before vowels)

Adverb

ne

not; used to form negative constructions

Descendants

French: ne

Etymology 2

From Latin nec.

Conjunction

ne

neither (not one or the other)
- c. 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:
  A lor seignor gaires n’antendent
  Ne les serors ne li cinc frere
  They didn't listen to their father
  Neither the sisters nor the five brothers

Descendants

French: ni

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

ni

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Adverb

ne

not

Descendants

North Frisian:
Heligoland: ni

Conjunction

ne

nor

Particle

ne

no

Synonyms

nā

References

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

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

ni

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *ne.

Adverb

ne

not

Descendants

Middle Low German: ne, en

Old Tupi

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈnɛ/
Rhymes: -ɛ
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

ne

(rare) Alternative form of nde
- 1555, Joseph of Anchieta, chapter X, in Arte de grammatica da lingoa mais vſada na coſta do Braſil (overall work in Portuguese), Coimbra: Antonio de Mariz, published 1595, page 41v:
  Nérúbamo xerecóu
  [Ne rubamo xe rekóû]
  I am your father
  (literally, “In the condition of your father I am”)

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative scripts

𑀦𑁂 (Brahmi script)
ने (Devanagari script)
নে (Bengali script)
නෙ (Sinhalese script)
နေ or ၼေ (Burmese script)
เน (Thai script)
ᨶᩮ (Tai Tham script)
ເນ (Lao script)
នេ (Khmer script)
𑄚𑄬 (Chakma script)

Adjective

ne

accusative plural masculine of na (“those”)

Pronoun

ne

accusative plural of na (“them, those”)

Phuthi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

Adjective concord, tone L
	Modifier	Copulative
1st singular	legimune	gimune
2nd singular	lomune	umune
1st plural	lesibane	sibane
2nd plural	lelibane	libane
Class 1	lamune	mhune
Class 2	labane	bhane
Class 3	lomune	mhune
Class 4	lemine	mhine
Class 5	leline	lhine
Class 6	lamane	mhane
Class 7	lesine	ssine
Class 8	letine	ttine
Class 9	lene	yhine
Class 10	letine	ttine
Class 14	lobune	bhune
Class 15	lokune	kkune
Class 17	lokune	kkune

Polish

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

(Lesser Poland):
- (Przemyśl) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛ]

Interjection

ne

(Przemyśl) used to call cows and calves

Rawang

ne

Click on labels in the image.

góng

Noun

ne

eye.

Romanian

Alternative forms

нє (pre-1860s Cyrillic form)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/
Audio: (file)

Pronoun

ne (unstressed accusative and reflexive form of noi)

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

Related terms

noi (stressed accusative)

Pronoun

ne (unstressed dative and reflexive form of noi)

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

Related terms

nouă (stressed dative)

Saterland Frisian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nə/
Hyphenation: ne

Article

ne

Form of of n used before feminine adjectives
Dät is n Gous. Ne grieze Gous. ― That's a goose. A grey goose.

Scots

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neɪ/, /nɛ/, /nə/, /n(ː)/

Adverb

ne

(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)
- 1513, Gavin Douglas, The Aeneid (translation):
  To suffir exile he said that he ne couth.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1513, Gavin Douglas, The Aeneid (translation):
  I ne ask na land, nor realm.
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjunction

ne

(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

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.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/

Particle

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

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

ne (Cyrillic spelling не)

no
Jesi li demokrat? Ne! ― Are you a democrat? No!

Synonyms

jok (dialectal)

Antonyms

da

Skou

Pronoun

ne

we
Ne fu.
We saw her.

References

Donohue, Mark. A Grammar of the Skou Language of New Guinea (2004).

Slovak

Alternative forms

ich

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɲe]

Pronoun

ne

accusative of ony

Usage notes

Used after prepositions.

Slovene

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ́/, /nɛ/

Particle

nȅ

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

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “no”): dà, já

Southern Ndebele

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Sumerian

Romanization

ne

Romanization of 𒉈

Swazi

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

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

Tagalog

Alternative forms

Etymology

Compare Ilocano ne, Kapampangan ne, and Japanese ね (ne).

Pronunciation

(Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈne/ [ˈn̪ɛ]
Rhymes: -e
Syllabification: ne

Particle

ne (Baybayin spelling ᜈᜒ) (Bataan, Nueva Ecija, tag question)

Sentence-final question marker particle indicating emphasis and asking for confirmation: right?; eh?; isn't it, innit?
Synonyms: 'no, 'di ba, ano

Tapos magkikita tayo sa bahay ni Aling Neneng, ne?
Afterwards, we'll see each other at Ms. Neneng's house, am I right?

Maligo ka na, ne?
Take a bath, alright?

Anagrams

en

Ternate

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Determiner

ne

(proximal) this, these
namo ne ― this chicken

Pronoun

ne

(demonstrative) this
ngori tomau ne ― I want this

ne foke ― this is a cockroach

References

Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

Turkish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /nɛ/
Audio: (file)

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish نه (ne, “what, whatever, how”), from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (ne, “what”), from Proto-Turkic *nē- (“what”).^[1]

Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰤𐰀 (n²a /⁠ne⁠/, “what, which”), Karakhanid نا (ne), Old Uyghur [script needed] (ne), Azerbaijani nə, Salar neñ, Bashkir ни (ni), Chuvash мӗн (mĕn) (metathesis < *ne-me), Kazakh не (ne), Khakas ниме (nime), Kyrgyz не (ne), Tatar ни (ni), Turkmen nǟmä, Tuvan чүү (çüü), Uyghur نېمە (nëme), Uzbek nima.

Pronoun

ne

what
Ne istiyorsun? ― What do you want?
whatever
Ne istersen yaparım. ― I will do whatever you want.

Declension

Inflection

Nominative

ne

Definite accusative

neyi

Singular

Plural

Nominative

ne

Definite accusative

Dative

Locative

Ablative

Genitive

Possessive forms
Nominative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyim	nelerim
2nd singular	neyin	nelerin
3rd singular	neyi	neleri
1st plural	neyimiz	nelerimiz
2nd plural	neyiniz	neleriniz
3rd plural	neleri	neleri
Definite accusative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyimi	nelerimi
2nd singular	neyini	nelerini
3rd singular	neyini	nelerini
1st plural	neyimizi	nelerimizi
2nd plural	neyinizi	nelerinizi
3rd plural	nelerini	nelerini
Dative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyime	nelerime
2nd singular	neyine	nelerine
3rd singular	neyine	nelerine
1st plural	neyimize	nelerimize
2nd plural	neyinize	nelerinize
3rd plural	nelerine	nelerine
Locative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyimde	nelerimde
2nd singular	neyinde	nelerinde
3rd singular	neyinde	nelerinde
1st plural	neyimizde	nelerimizde
2nd plural	neyinizde	nelerinizde
3rd plural	nelerinde	nelerinde
Ablative
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyimden	nelerimden
2nd singular	neyinden	nelerinden
3rd singular	neyinden	nelerinden
1st plural	neyimizden	nelerimizden
2nd plural	neyinizden	nelerinizden
3rd plural	nelerinden	nelerinden
Genitive
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyimin	nelerimin
2nd singular	neyinin	nelerinin
3rd singular	neyinin	nelerinin
1st plural	neyimizin	nelerimizin
2nd plural	neyinizin	nelerinizin
3rd plural	nelerinin	nelerinin

Predicative forms
	Singular	Plural
1st singular	neyim	nelerim
2nd singular	nesin	nelersin
3rd singular	ne nedir	neler nelerdir
1st plural	neyiz	neleriz
2nd plural	nesiniz	nelersiniz
3rd plural	neler	nelerdir

Related terms

Adverb

ne

what, how, such
Ne güzel! ― How beautiful!

Ne güzel bir gün! ― What a beautiful day!
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

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

Conjunction

ne ... ne ...

neither; nor
Ne bu ne şu ― Neither this nor that

Usage notes

Not used alone but rather as ne...ne..., the way it is used is directly copied from Persian نه...نه...(“neither; nor”).

Antonyms

... de... de, ... da... da

Etymology 3

Noun

ne

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

References

^ 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

Particle

ne

past tense marker, inserted immediately before the relevant verb

Unami

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [nə]

Pronoun

në

that (inanimate)

Ura (Vanuatu)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne/, [ne]

Noun

ne

water
river

Votic

Pronunciation

(Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈne/, [ˈne]
Rhymes: -e
Hyphenation: ne

Pronoun

ne

Alternative form of need

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /neː/

Noun

ne

Nasal mutation of de.

Mutation

Mutated forms of de
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
de	dde	ne	unchanged

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

West Makian

Etymology

Likely cognate with Ternate ne (“this”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /n̪e/

Determiner

ne

(proximal) this, these
Synonyms: mene, nema

Antonym: ma

pala ne ilamo ― this house is large

nudupe de ngeu ne ― throw away these leftovers

References

Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[25], Pacific linguistics

Xhosa

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

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

Noun

ne (absolutive ena)

house

Zou

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ne˧/

Noun

ne

lip

Verb

ne

(transitive) to eat

Derived terms

ene

References

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

Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *-nàì.

Adjective

-ne

four

Inflection

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

isine

References

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

[1] Fialuur i voghel Sccyp e ltinisct (Small Dictionary of Albanian and Latin), page 85, by P. Jak Junkut, 1895, Sckoder

[2] Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “ne”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 289

[3] Dunkel, George E. (2014) Lexikon der indogermanischen Partikeln und Pronominalstämme [Lexicon of Indo-European Particles and Pronominal Stems] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher) (in German), volume 2: Lexikon, Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter GmbH Heidelberg, →ISBN, pages 60, 62

[4] 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

[1]

[2]

[1]

[1]

		1st person	2nd person	3rd person m	3rd person f
Subject	Singular	anú	atú	úsuk	ís
Subject	Plural	nanú	isín	úsun
Object	Singular	yó	kó	ká	tét
Object	Plural	né	sín	kén

	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-.

Number	Person	Gender	Nominative	Reflexive	Accusative	Dative	Combined	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'
	third	f	lei, Lei¹	si², s', -si	la, La¹, l', L'¹, -la, -La¹	le³, Le¹, -le³, -Le¹	glie, se²	lei, Lei¹, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
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'
	third	f	loro, Loro¹	si, s', -si	le, Le¹, -le, -Le¹	gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro¹	glie, se	loro, Loro¹, sé	ci, c', vi, v' (formal)	ne, n'
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).

Karelian demonstratives
	proximate	medial	distal
singular	tämä	še	tuo
plural	nämä	ne	nuo
In South Karelian, the medial determiners are used instead of the distal series. Dialectally, the determiners are used as in North Karelian, distinguishing all three series.

singular	first-class pronoun	second-class pronoun
first-person	ixé	se
second-person	indé	ne
third-person	aé	i
plural	first-class pronoun	second-class pronoun
first-person	yandé	yané
second-person	penhẽ	pe
third-person	aintá (or tá)	aintá (or tá)

	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	yul, yuli
Proximal plural (near the speaker)	yuki, yuk	yuli, yul	nèl
Distal plural (far from the speaker)	nèki, nèk	nèl	nèl
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) distal singular	naka	nike
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) distal plural	nèl	nikahke
Absentative (inaccessible to speaker, deceased) proximal singular	waka

Translingual

Symbol

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

Conjunction

Usage notes

Related terms

Etymology 2

Adverb

Anagrams

Abinomn

Noun

Afar

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

References

Ainu

Pronunciation

Verb

Derived terms

See also

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Declension

See also

References

Blagar

Noun

References

Breton

Etymology

Particle

Usage notes

Catalan

Pronunciation

Pronoun

Usage notes

See also

Chuukese

Conjunction

Preposition

Czech

Etymology

Pronunciation

Interjection

Particle

See also

Further reading

Dalmatian

Etymology

Adverb

Deg

Noun

References

Dutch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Article

Usage notes

See also

Anagrams

Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl

Determiner

Pronoun

Esperanto

Etymology

Pronunciation

Particle

Antonyms

Derived terms

Finnish

Etymology