này

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nay"

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

• nầy
• ni (no diphthongization)

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˦˩]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [na(ː)j˨˩]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

Determiner

này • (尼, 呢)

1. this

   Người đàn ông này là một nha sĩ. ― This man is a dentist.

   Không lúc này, thì lúc nào? ― If not this time, then what time?

See also

Vietnamese demonstratives

	Proximal (*-iː)	Distal 1 (*-iːʔ)	Distal 2 (*-əːʔ)	Distal 3/ Remote (*-ɔːʔ)	Interrogative (rime was a rounded back vowel)
Place, attributive1 n-	ni nì này/nầy nây	nấy	nớ	nọ (nó)	nào
Place, nominal2 đ-	đây	đấy (ấy)	—	đó	đâu
Manner r-	ri rày	—	rứa	—	ru sao3
Extent 14 b-	bây	bấy	—	—	bao
Extent 25 v-	vầy	vậy	—	—	—
1 Originally can only follow a nominal (being used attributively), hence nơi này (“this place; here”), nơi nào (“where”) (no longer completely true in the modern language). 2 Can be used on its own/is itself nominal, hence đây (“here”), đâu (“where”). 3 From earlier *C-raːw (where *C is nonspecific consonant). 4 Placed before the head: bây nhiêu (“this much”), bấy nhiêu (“that much”), bao nhiêu (“how much”). 5 Placed after the head: nhanh vầy (“this fast”), nhanh vậy (“that fast/so fast”).
Visibility/evidentiality6
	Distal (ngang)			Remote (huyền)
Northern-Southern	kia (cơ)			kìa (cờ)
Central	tê			tề
6 Originally, these demonstratives might have been used to assert that something is visible and/or verifiable. They have been bleached quite thoroughly and currently are usually used like other distal demonstratives. The biggest trace of their evidentiality might be in their usage as final particles, often in reduced forms cơ/cờ: [t]ừ đấy về tới Hà Nội, còn những ba cái cầu nữa cơ mà! ("From there to Hanoi, there're still three more bridges to cross!") (Ba ngày luân lạc, 1943).

Adverb

này • (尼, 呢)

1. here

Related terms

• nay (“now”)

Particle

này • (尼, 呢)

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).