नु
Pali
Alternative forms
Particle
नु (nu)
- Devanagari script form of nu (“then, now”)
Sanskrit
Alternative scripts
- নু (Assamese script)
- ᬦᬸ (Balinese script)
- নু (Bengali script)
- 𑰡𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
- 𑀦𑀼 (Brahmi script)
- နု (Burmese script)
- નુ (Gujarati script)
- ਨੁ (Gurmukhi script)
- 𑌨𑍁 (Grantha script)
- ꦤꦸ (Javanese script)
- 𑂢𑂳 (Kaithi script)
- ನು (Kannada script)
- នុ (Khmer script)
- ນຸ (Lao script)
- നു (Malayalam script)
- ᠨᡠ (Manchu script)
- 𑘡𑘳 (Modi script)
- ᠨᠤ (Mongolian script)
- 𑧁𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
- 𑐣𑐸 (Newa script)
- ନୁ (Odia script)
- ꢥꢸ (Saurashtra script)
- 𑆤𑆶 (Sharada script)
- 𑖡𑖲 (Siddham script)
- නු (Sinhalese script)
- 𑩯𑩒 (Soyombo script)
- 𑚝𑚰 (Takri script)
- நு (Tamil script)
- ను (Telugu script)
- นุ (Thai script)
- ནུ (Tibetan script)
- 𑒢𑒳 (Tirhuta script)
- 𑨝𑨃 (Zanabazar Square script)
Etymology 1
From Proto-Indo-European *nu (“now”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬥𐬏 (nū, “now”), Latin num (“now”), Old English nū (whence English now), Albanian ni (“now”), Lithuanian nù (“now”).[1]
Alternative forms
- नू (nū́)
Pronunciation
- (Vedic) IPA(key): /nú/
- (Classical Sanskrit) IPA(key): /n̪u/
Adverb
नु • (nú)
Etymology 2
From Proto-Indo-European *newH- (“to cry”), whence Old Irish núall (“a loud noise”), Tocharian B nu- (“to roar”),[2] and perhaps Latin nūntius (“messenger”).[3]
Alternative forms
- नव् (nav), नू (nū)
Pronunciation
- (Vedic) IPA(key): /nu/
- (Classical Sanskrit) IPA(key): /n̪u/
Root
नु • (nu)
Derived terms
- Primary Verbal Forms
- Secondary Forms
- नूयते (nūyáte) (Passive)
- नावयति (nāvayati) (Causative)
- अनूनोत् (ánūnot) (Causative Aorist)
- अनूनवत् (ánūnavat) (Causative Aorist)
- नुनूषति (nunūṣati) (Desiderative)
- नुनावयिषति (nunāvayiṣati) (Desiderative of Causative)
- नोनवीति (nónavīti) (Intensive)
- नवीनोति (návīnoti) (Intensive)
- नोनूयते (nonūyate) (Intensive)
- नोनाव (nonāva) (Intensive Perfect)
- Non-Finite Forms
- नुत (nutá) (Past Participle)
- नवितुम् (navitum) (Infinitive)
- नुत्वा (nutvā) (Gerund)
- नुत्य (nutya) (Gerund)
- नावम् (nāvam) (Gerund)
- नव्य (návya) (Gerundive)
- Derived Nominal Forms
- नवन (navana)
- नाव (nāvá)
- नुति (nuti, “praise, laudation; worship”)
- नोनुव (nonuva)
- Prefixed Root Forms
- अभिनु (abhinu)
- अनुनु (anunu)
- प्रणु (praṇu)
- संनु (saṃnu)
Noun
नु • (nu) stem, m
Declension
| singular | dual | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | नुः (nuḥ) | नू (nū) | नवः (navaḥ) |
| accusative | नुम् (num) | नू (nū) | नून् (nūn) |
| instrumental | नुना (nunā) न्वा¹ (nvā¹) |
नुभ्याम् (nubhyām) | नुभिः (nubhiḥ) |
| dative | नवे (nave) न्वे¹ (nve¹) |
नुभ्याम् (nubhyām) | नुभ्यः (nubhyaḥ) |
| ablative | नोः (noḥ) न्वः¹ (nvaḥ¹) |
नुभ्याम् (nubhyām) | नुभ्यः (nubhyaḥ) |
| genitive | नोः (noḥ) न्वः¹ (nvaḥ¹) |
न्वोः (nvoḥ) | नूनाम् (nūnām) |
| locative | नौ (nau) | न्वोः (nvoḥ) | नुषु (nuṣu) |
| vocative | नो (no) | नू (nū) | नवः (navaḥ) |
- ¹Vedic
Etymology 3
Related to Proto-Iranian *nau (“to move”) (whence Persian نویدن (navidan, “to tremble, quiver”)), from Proto-Indo-European *new- (“to nod”), with semantic shift "to nod the head" > "to move in a shaking manner". However, Mayrhofer is skeptical of most attestations of the root in Indic, noting that the Sanskrit passages attributed to the root are just as well interpreted with the "to sound out, praise" meaning of Etymology 2. That said, certain isolated formations like अतिनावयेत् (atināvayet) do seem to point to the root's existence as separate from that of Etymology 2.[2]
Alternative forms
- नव् (nav)
Root
नु • (nu)
Derived terms
- नवते (navate)
- नावयति (nāvayati)
- नौति (nauti)
References
- Monier Williams (1899) “नु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 567, columns 1-2.
- William Dwight Whitney (1885) The Roots, Verb-forms, and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language, Leipzig: Breitkopf and Härtel, page 91
- Hellwig, Oliver (2010–2025) “nu”, in DCS - The Digital Corpus of Sanskrit, Berlin, Germany.
- Pokorny, Julius (1959) “767”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 767
- Mallory, J. P. with Adams, D. Q. (2006) The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World (Oxford Linguistics), New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 353
- ^ Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan][1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 52-3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan][2] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, pages 23-4; 52
- ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 419