ん
See also: 𬼂, h, ƕ, and խ
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Japanese
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Pronunciation
- The realization of this phoneme depends on its phonetic context, as follows:
- IPA(key): [n] before dental and alveolar consonants t, d, ch, j, n, r, s, ts, z
- IPA(key): [m] before m, p, b
- IPA(key): [ŋ] before k, g
- IPA(key): [ɴ] at the end of utterances, before approximants w and y, and before vowels, often causing nasalization of the preceding vowel
- When speakers wish to convey the consonant very clearly, for example in classical singing or when spelling things out to someone who can't hear the speaker well, [m] may be used in place of [ɴ], and potentially even in all other positions.
Etymology 1
Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 无 in the cursive sōsho style. ん and む were originally both used for both the n and mu sounds; ん was designated as n in the script reform.
Syllable
ん (romaji n)
- The hiragana syllable ん (n). Its equivalent in katakana is ン (n). It is the forty-eighth syllable in the gojūon order.
See also
| The Hiragana script | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| あぁ | かゕがか゚ | さざ | ただ | な | はばぱ | ま | やゃ | らら゚ | わゎわ゙ | ん |
| いぃ | きぎき゚ | しじ | ちぢ | に | ひびぴ | み | 𛀆 | りり゚ | ゐ𛅐ゐ゙ | |
| うぅゔ | くぐく゚ | すず | つっづ | ぬ | ふぶぷ | む | ゆゅ | るる゚ | 𛄟 | |
| えぇ | けゖげけ゚ | せぜ | てで | ね | へべぺ | め | 𛀁 | れれ゚ | ゑ𛅑ゑ゙ | |
| おぉ | こごこ゚ | そぞ | とど | の | ほぼぽ | も | よょ | ろろ゚ | を𛅒を゙ | |
Additional symbols ーゝゞゟ | ||||||||||
Etymology 2
/nu/ → /n/, /ŋ/
An abbreviation of the negative ending ぬ (nu).
Suffix
ん • (-n)
- (after the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of a verb): negative form of verbs
- 分からん
- wakaran
- I don't know.
- 許せんぞ
- yurusen zo
- This is unforgivable!
- 北大路魯山人, 『味覚馬鹿』
- あるといえばあるが、しかし、ほんとうのことはわからん。
- Aru to ieba aru ga, shikashi, hontō no koto wa wakaran.
- There is, to be sure, but, I don't know the facts.
- あるといえばあるが、しかし、ほんとうのことはわからん。
- 分からん
Usage notes
- The negative usage of ん (-n) is a colloquial form of ぬ (nu), and this is mainly used in western Japanese dialects.
- Since ない is adopted as a standard form for the negative suffix in modern Japanese, ん gives a dialectal or very casual impression compared to ない today except that it is standard when forming the negative of ます (-masu), ません (-masen).
- On the other hand, ん is common in fictional dialogue attributed to archaic or pompous characters.
- This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.
Synonyms
- (casual) ない (nai)
- (formal) ません (masen)
- (written formal) ず (zu)
- (Kansai) へん (hen)
See also
Japanese basic inflections
| Verbs | -i adjectives | nouns and -na adjectives | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpast | Plain | Affirmative | Use the dictionary form | stem + い (-i) | noun + だ (da) (noun + である (de aru)) |
| Negative | mizenkei + ない (-nai) | stem + くない (-ku nai) | noun + で（は）ない (de [wa] nai) | ||
| Polite | Affirmative | ren'yōkei + ます (-masu) | stem + いです (-i desu) | noun + です (desu) | |
| Negative | ren'yōkei + ません (-masen) | stem + くないです (-ku nai desu) stem + くありません (-ku arimasen) | noun + で（は）ないです (de [wa] nai desu) noun + で（は）ありません (de [wa] arimasen) | ||
| Past | Plain | Affirmative | ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + た (-ta) | stem + かった (-katta) | noun + だった (datta) (noun + であった (de atta)) |
| Negative | mizenkei + なかった (-nakatta) | stem + くなかった (-ku nakatta) | noun + で（は）なかった (de [wa] nakatta) | ||
| Polite | Affirmative | ren'yōkei + ました (-mashita) | stem + かったです (-katta desu) | noun + でした (deshita) | |
| Negative | ren'yōkei + ませんでした (-masen deshita) | stem + くなかったです (-ku nakatta desu) stem + くありませんでした (-ku arimasen deshita) | noun + で（は）なかったです (de [wa] nakatta desu) noun + で（は）ありませんでした (de [wa] arimasen deshita) | ||
| Volitional | Plain | mizenkei (of Group I verbs) + う (-u > -o) mizenkei (of other verbs) + よう (-yō) | †stem + かろう (-karō) (stem + いだろう (-i darō)) | noun + だろう (darō) (noun + であろう (de arō)) | |
| Polite | ren'yōkei + ましょう (-mashō) | (stem + いでしょう (-i deshō)) | noun + でしょう (deshō) | ||
| Conjunctive | ren'yōkei (with onbin sound changes for Group I verbs) + て (-te) | stem + くて (-kute) | noun + で (de) (noun + であって (de atte)) | ||
| Hypothetical conditional | kateikei + ば (-ba) | stem + ければ (-kereba) | (noun + であれば (de areba)) | ||
Etymology 3
/mu/ → /n/, /ŋ/
An abbreviation of the intentional, volitional, and suppositional ending む (mu).
Alternative forms
- (reflex in modern language) う (-u)
Suffix
ん • (-n)
- (non-productive, archaic) (after the 未然形 (mizenkei, “incomplete form”) of a verb): volitional form of verbs
- いざ行かん
- iza yukan
- Let's go.
- 神の御加護があらんことを
- kami no go-kago ga aran koto o
- God bless you.
- (literally, “May God's protection be with you.”)
- 北大路魯山人, 『味覚馬鹿』
- 高級食器、美器をつくらんとするものは、美食に通ずべし。
- Kōkyū shokki, biki o tsukuran to suru mono wa, bishoku ni tsūzu beshi.
- He who tries to make high-class tableware and beautyware, must be familiar with epicurism.
- 高級食器、美器をつくらんとするものは、美食に通ずべし。
- 2004; Murakoshi, Suguru; trans. Blaustein, Jeremy, et al., quoting note on door, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Tokyo: Konami, PlayStation 2; Xbox; PC, level/area: One Truth room:
- 汝、最深部へ行くには 一つの真実を倒せ
さすればこの扉開かれん- nanji, saishinbu e iku ni wa / hitotsu no shinjitsu o taose
sa sureba kono tobira hirakaren - To reach the deepest part, you must / defeat the One Truth.
Do so and this door will open. - (literally, “Thou, in going to the deepest part, / defeat the One Truth
If you do thusly this door would be opened”)
- nanji, saishinbu e iku ni wa / hitotsu no shinjitsu o taose
- いざ行かん
Usage notes
- The volitional usage of ん (-n) is a colloquial form of む (mu), and this is usually used to impart a literary style in modern Japanese.
- In modern Japanese, this is more commonly realized as the う (-u > -ō) or よう (-yō) volitional verb ending. See the etymology of suffix よう (-yō) for more.
- This word is morphologically an inflectional suffix. It is classified as 助動詞 (jodōshi, “auxiliary verb”) in traditional Japanese grammar.
Etymology 4
/no/ → /n/, /ŋ/
Regular abbreviation of the possessive or nominalizing particle の (no). The result is considered informal.
Particle
ん • (n)
- contraction of の (no)
- 俺ん家に来ない？
- Ore n chi ni konai?
- Wanna come to my place?
- あの、聞きたいことがあるんだけど。
- Ano, kikitai koto ga aru n da kedo.
- Excuse me, I have a question that I would like to ask.
- 甲賀三郎, 『蜘蛛』
- 「とたてぐもの一種なんだよ。潮見君は毒蜘蛛と間違えたんだよ」
- “Totategumo no isshu na n da yo. Shiomi-kun wa dokugumo to machigaeta n da yo”
- "It's a type of trapdoor spider. You've mistaken it for a venomous spider."
- 「とたてぐもの一種なんだよ。潮見君は毒蜘蛛と間違えたんだよ」
- 俺ん家に来ない？
Etymology 5
/r-/ → /r/ → /n/, /ŋ/
Regular abbreviation of various morae preceding another mora starting with a nasalized consonant, such as /n/ or /d/. The result is considered informal.
Combining form
ん
- contraction of ら (ra)
- 家に帰らなきゃ。 → 家に帰んなきゃ。
- Ie ni kaeranakya. → ie ni kaennakya.
- I must go home.
- 涙が止まらない → 涙が止まんない
- namida ga tomaranai → namida ga tomannai
- the tears won't stop
- 家に帰らなきゃ。 → 家に帰んなきゃ。
- contraction of る (ru)
- 何しているの？ → 何してるの？ → 何してんの？
- Nani shite iru no? → nani shiteru no? → nani shiten no?
- What are you doing? → What ya doing? → What'cha doin'?
- ふざけるな！→ふざけんな！
- Fuzakeru na! → fuzaken na!
- Stop playing around!
- 気にするな → 気にすんな
- ki ni suru na → ki ni sun na
- Don't mind.
- 何しているの？ → 何してるの？ → 何してんの？
- contraction of れ (re)
- 信じられない。 → 信じらんない。
- Shinjirarenai. → shinjirannai.
- I can't believe it.
- それで→そんで
- sore de → son de
- and so
- 信じられない。 → 信じらんない。
Etymology 6
Possibly a reduced form of ちゃん.
Suffix
ん • (-n)
- (women's speech) added to female names or parts of them to express affection
- 栞 → しおりん, 一美 → ずみん, 茜 → ねん
- Shiori → Shiorin, Kazumi → Zumin, Akane → Nen
- Shiori → Shiorin, Kazumi → Zumin, Akane → Nen (nicknames)
- 栞 → しおりん, 一美 → ずみん, 茜 → ねん
Miyako
Etymology
From Proto-Ryukyuan *ni, from Proto-Japonic *ni. Cognate with Japanese に (ni).
Pronunciation
IPA(key): /n/
Particle
ん (n)
- (locative marker) in; to; for; at