نیمه

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian [script needed] (nymk' /⁠nēmag⁠/). By surface analysis, (nim) +‎ (-e).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /neː.ˈma/, /niː.ˈma/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [niː.mǽ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [niː.mǽ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ni.mǽ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [niː.mé]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ni.mǽ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	nēmá, nīmá
Dari reading^?	nīma
Iranian reading^?	nime
Tajik reading^?	nima

Adjective

نیمه • (nime)

half
Synonyms: نصف (nesf), نیم (nim)

Noun

نیمه • (nime)

half
Synonyms: نصف (nesf), نیم (nim)
- c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 607:
  همچو گاوی نیمهی چپش سیاه
  نیمهی دیگر سپید همچو ماه
  hamču gāw-ē nēma-i čap-aš siyāh
  nēma-i dēgar sapēd hamču māh
  (He is) like an ox, his left half black,
  the other half white as the moon.

Usage notes

(nime) and (nim) are both nouns meaning "half", but (nime) is obligatory before the ezâfe particle, hence always (nime-ye) and never *نیمِ (*nim-e).

Further reading

Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “نیمه”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim