này

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nay"

Vietnamese

Alternative forms

(Northern Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) nầy (vowel raised)
(Central Vietnam) ni (no diphthongization)

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *-niː, from Proto-Austroasiatic *niːʔ (“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)

this
Ông này là nha sĩ đó anh.
This man is a dentist.

Giờ này rồi còn lông bông gì vậy?
Why are you idling around at this time of the day?

	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	ní 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) and their (pretty much) obligatory use when locating an object: Không phải cái này mà là cái kia. ("Not this one, that one.")

Adverb

này • (尼, 呢)

here

Related terms

nay (“now”)

Particle

này • (尼, 呢)

prefixes someone's name or kinship title, used to call for their attention
Này ai ơi! ― Hey whoever there!

Này Lan! ― Hey Lan!
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?
Hey Khoa, are about to move out as I/we've heard?

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).