ná

See also: Appendix:Variations of "na"

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of ná – see 哪 (“which; what; any; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 哪).

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse ná.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nauː/
• Rhymes: -auː

Verb

ná

1. (transitive, with dative) to reach (a place)
2. (transitive, with dative) to get, catch, apprehend (a physical object)
3. (transitive, with dative) to reach, attain (a goal)

   Ég mun ná heimsyfirráðum!

   I will attain world domination!

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

• ná í
• ná sér
• ná sér í

Anagrams

• án

Irish

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Connacht) IPA^(key): /n̪ˠɑː/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /n̪ˠa(ː)/

Etymology 1

From Old Irish ná (“don't”, prohibitive particle).

Particle

ná

1. don’t (particle used to introduce a negative imperative; triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel)

   Ná déan sin.

   Don’t do that.

   Ná habair é.

   Don’t mention it.

2. may...not (particle used with raibh, the present subjunctive of bí, to introduce a negative wish)

   Dealbh ná raibh tú.

   May you never be destitute.

3. (Munster) Alternative form of nach (“not”) (in questions; triggers h-prothesis; used with the dependent form of an irregular verb if there is one)

   Ná fuil ocras ort?

   Are you not hungry?

   Chonac í, ná facas?

   I saw her, didn’t I?

Conjunction

ná (triggers h-prothesis, used with the dependent form of an irregular verb if there is one)

1. (Munster) Alternative form of nach (“that...not”)

   Dúirt sé ná raibh carr aige.

   He said that he didn’t have a car.

Etymology 2

From Old Irish ná (“nor”)

Conjunction

ná

1. nor

   Níl deartháir ná deirfiúr agam.

   I have neither brother nor sister.

2. used between two identical or similar words to intensify a negative

   Ní fhaca sí solas ná solas.

   She saw no light whatsoever.

   (literally, “She didn’t see light or light).”)

Etymology 3

From Old Irish indás (“than (it) is”).

Alternative forms

• ioná (archaic)
• 'ná (superseded)

Conjunction

ná (triggers h-prothesis)

1. than

   Is airde Máire ná Peadar.

   Mary is taller than Peter.

2. but (used rhetorically in direct and indirect questions)

   Cé a bhí ina shuí ann ná m’athair féin?

   Who was sitting there but my own father?

3. used to connect a predicate noun to its subject in a cleft sentence introduced by a copular form

   Is é a dúirt sé ná gur dhíol sé a ríomhaire lena chara.

   What he said was that he sold his computer to his friend.

   • 1907, Peadar Ua Laoghaire, Séadna, page 6:

     Bhí fear ann fad ó agus isé ainim a bhí air ’ná Séadna.

     Once upon a time there was a man and the name that he had was Séadna.

Derived terms

• ná go, ná gur (“but that”)

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ná”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “ná”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 87
• “ná”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

Lashi

Etymology

Related to nang.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na/

Pronoun

ná

1. thy, your (singular)

Synonyms

• né

References

• Hkaw Luk (2017) A grammatical sketch of Lacid‎^[1], Chiang Mai: Payap University (master thesis)

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• na — nonstandard

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Romanization

ná (na², Zhuyin ㄋㄚˊ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嗱
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 拏／拿
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 拿
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 挏
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 訣／诀
6. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 誽／𰵵
7. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鎿／镎
8. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 镎

Navajo

Postposition

ná

1. for you, for your sake
2. in your favor

   ná yáʼátʼééh ― it is good for you

   ná áshłééh ― I’m making it for you

Inflection

Navajo postpositions

	singular	duoplural
1st person	shá	nihá
2nd person	ná	nihá
3rd person	bá
4th person (3o)	yá
4th person (3a)	há
4th person (3i)	á	—
reflexive	ádá	—
reciprocal	—	ahá

Northern Sami

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈnaː/

Adverb

ná

1. so, thus, in this way

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[2], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n͈aː/

Etymology 1

Uncertain. According to Matasović originally short /na/, from Proto-Celtic *ne, from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”). According to Dunkel from Proto-Celtic *nā, from Proto-Indo-European *nó-h₁, from *ne + adverbial suffix *-h₁. In Old Irish the expected outcome would be *nú in a final syllable. The variant with á would adopted from originally disyllabic forms like nád (relative) and nách (before infixed pronoun).

Particle

ná (triggers /h/-prothesis)

1. don’t, let…not (particle used to introduce a negative imperative)
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 22^b26

     Ná bíth i cobadlus doïb, ar atá torad la gnímu soilse .i. praemia aeterna ní ḟil immurgu acht infructuosa.

     Do not be in fellowship with them, for there is fruit with works of light, i.e. praemia aeterna. There is nothing [with works of darkness], however, save infructuosa.

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 25^c6

     Hóre ammi maicc laí et soilse, ná seichem nahísiu.

     Since we are children of day and light, let us not follow these things.

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 55^a1

     Ná déne ainmnit.

     Do not show patience.

     (literally, “Do not do patience.”)

Alternative forms

• na
• nách, nach (before an infixed pronoun)

Descendants

• Middle Irish: ná
  • Irish: ná

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 ná, na”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, §§ 862, 868, pages 539, 542; reprinted 2017

Etymology 2

Maybe from Proto-Celtic *nāwe (“or not”), from Proto-Indo-European *nó-h₁ (“not”) + *-we (“or”). Compare nó (“or”).

Conjunction

ná (triggers /h/-prothesis)

1. (chiefly in the negative) or, nor

Quotations

• c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 49^d3

  .i. ní frithalim-se rucai ná mmebuil dam hisa suithin, ma fris·accar hi t’ainm-siu, a Dǽ

  i.e. I expect neither shame nor disgrace to me for ever, if I hope in Your name, O God.

Alternative forms

• na

Descendants

• Middle Irish: ná
  • Irish: ná

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “4 ná”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, →ISBN, § 865, page 540; reprinted 2017

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *nēhwāną, related to (or derived from) Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz (“near”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (“to reach”).

Verb

ná (singular past indicative náði, plural past indicative náðu, past participle nát)

1. (transitive, with dative) to get hold of, reach, overtake
2. to get, obtain
3. (with infinitive) to be able to, to be allowed to

Conjugation

Conjugation of ná — active (weak class 3)

infinitive	ná
present participle	nándi, náandi
past participle	náðr
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	nái	náða
2nd-person singular	náir	náðir
3rd-person singular	náir	náði
1st-person plural	nám	náðum
2nd-person plural	náið	náðuð
3rd-person plural	ná	náðu
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	ná	næða
2nd-person singular	náir	næðir
3rd-person singular	nái	næði
1st-person plural	náim	næðim
2nd-person plural	náið	næðið
3rd-person plural	nái	næði
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	ná
1st-person plural	nám
2nd-person plural	náið

Conjugation of ná — mediopassive (weak class 3)

infinitive	násk
present participle	nándisk, náandisk
past participle	názk
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	námk	náðumk
2nd-person singular	náisk	náðisk
3rd-person singular	náisk	náðisk
1st-person plural	námsk	náðumsk
2nd-person plural	náizk	náðuzk
3rd-person plural	násk	náðusk
subjunctive	present	past
1st-person singular	námk	næðumk
2nd-person singular	náisk	næðisk
3rd-person singular	náisk	næðisk
1st-person plural	náimsk	næðimsk
2nd-person plural	náizk	næðizk
3rd-person plural	náisk	næðisk
imperative	present
2nd-person singular	násk
1st-person plural	námsk
2nd-person plural	náizk

Related terms

• gnógr
• nær

Descendants

• Icelandic: ná
• Norwegian:
  • Norwegian Bokmål: nå
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: nå
• Swedish: nå
• Danish: nå

References

• ná in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.

Portuguese

Interjection

ná

1. Eye dialect spelling of não.

Skou

Particle

ná

1. polar interrogative particle

   Móe ing a mè mangmang me pi ná?

   Do you want to eat fish?

References

• Donohue, Mark. A Grammar of the Skou Language of New Guinea (2004).

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈna/ [ˈna]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: ná

Pronoun

ná

1. (informal) Apocopic form of nada

   no pasa ná ― nothing happens

Tày

Pronunciation

• (Thạch An – Tràng Định) IPA^(key): [naː˧˥]
• (Trùng Khánh) IPA^(key): [naː˦]

Etymology 1

Adverb

ná

1. not (negates meaning of verb)

   ná chin ― not eat

   ná chắc ― not know

   slon lụ ná ― study or not

Etymology 2

Adjective

ná

1. brassy; obstinate

   ná dú rườn hâu ― to stay at their house

Verb

ná

1. to be blocked

   Slủng ná đạn.

   The gun was clogged.

References

• Hoàng Văn Ma, Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Chí (2006) Từ điển Tày-Nùng-Việt [Tay-Nung-Vietnamese dictionary] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Từ điển Bách khoa Hà Nội
• Lương Bèn (2011) Từ điển Tày-Việt [Tay-Vietnamese dictionary]‎^[3][4] (in Vietnamese), Thái Nguyên: Nhà Xuất bản Đại học Thái Nguyên
• Lục Văn Pảo, Hoàng Tuấn Nam (2003) Hoàng Triều Ân, editor, Từ điển chữ Nôm Tày [A Dictionary of (chữ) Nôm Tày]‎^[5] (in Vietnamese), Hanoi: Nhà xuất bản Khoa học Xã hội

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *s-naːʔ (“crossbow”), from Proto-Mon-Khmer *snaʔ (“crossbow”). Cognate with Thavung ซะน่า, Khmer ស្នា (snaa), Koho söna. Doublet of nỏ.

Pain (2020) tentatively considered this to be a Chinese loan, from 弩 (OC *C.nˤaʔ) (B-S) (SV: nỗ), into Austroasiatic and Tai languages, likely through proto-Vietic.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [naː˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [naː˨˩˦]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [naː˦˥]

Noun

(classifier cái, chiếc) ná • (弩, 𫸶, 梛, 󲈦, 那)

1. (dialectal) Synonym of nỏ (“crossbow”)
2. slingshot

Anagrams

• án