の
|
Chinese
Etymology
Orthographic borrowing from Japanese possessive marker の (no).
Pronunciation 1
Particle
の
- Nonstandard form of 的.
- 朱力亞の手作包, →ISBN
- 打造個人化の網站 XOOPS 2.3.x 完全實戰手冊, →ISBN
- 梅問題の超質感商品攝影手法大公開, →ISBN
Pronunciation 2
Usage notes
Not used in running Chinese text in any region. It may be used as a shorthand, or to achieve visual, Japanese-style effect such as on signs, book titles, pamphlet covers or signboards, similar to faux Cyrillic.
Japanese
Stroke order | |||
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Etymology 1
Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 乃 in the cursive sōsho style.
Syllable
の (romaji no)
See also
Etymology 2
⟨no2⟩ → */nə/ → /no/
From Old Japanese,[1][2] from Proto-Japonic *nə. Appears in common use in the Kojiki (712 CE), distinct from 野 (⟨no1⟩ → no, “field”). Compare Middle Chinese 能 (MC nəŋ).
May be an apophonic form of Old Japanese particle な (na). This other form also appears in a similar function. However, its usage was already restricted to certain set expressions by the time of the earliest Japanese texts in the Nara period, with no clear examples of productive use.[1][2]
In Old Japanese, there are three particles used productively to mark one noun modifying another:
- つ (tsu), as in 沖つ島守 (oki tsu shimamori, “the caretaker or watchman of an island of the offing [offshore]”) or 黄泉つ国 (yomo tsu kuni, “the country of the underworld”).
- が (ga), as in 関ヶ原 (Sekigahara, a placename, parseable as seki “checkpoint, barrier” + ga [possessive] + hara “field, plain”)
- の (no), as in 山処能一本薄 (Yamato no hitomoto susuki, “the sawtooth sedge of Yamato”, a line from one of the songs in the Kojiki)
The apophonic form な (na) persisted only as an element in certain compounds, such as 港 (minato, “harbor”, generally parsed as mi “water” + na [possessive] + to “door, gate” → port, landing, harbor), or 掌 (tanagokoro, “palm of the hand”, parsed as ta “hand” + na [possessive] + kokoro “heart, center”, changing to gokoro due to rendaku).
Particle
の (rōmaji no)
- genitive case marker
- indicates possession: of, -'s
- 私の意見
- watashi no iken
- my opinion
- 私の意見
- indicates identity or apposition
- 大統領のブッシュ氏
- daitōryō no Busshu-shi
- the President, Mr. Bush
- 山田の馬鹿野郎!
- Yamada no baka yarō!
- Yamada, you stupid jerk!
- 山田の奴
- Yamada no yatsu
- that dude Yamada
- 大統領のブッシュ氏
- a noun, adverb, or phrase modifier
- 数学の分野
- sūgaku no bun'ya
- the field of mathematics
- 緑の車
- midori no kuruma
- green car
- 全ての商品
- subete no shōhin
- all goods
- 母への手紙
- haha e no tegami
- letter to mom
- 数学の分野
- indicates possession: of, -'s
- nominative case marker in a relative clause
- 眉毛の濃い人
- mayuge no koi hito
- a man whose eyebrow is thick
- Synonym: が (ga)
- 眉毛の濃い人
- a sentence ending that indicates emphasis or a question, depending on intonation
- 不可能じゃないの?
- Fukanō ja nai no?
- Isn't it impossible?
- 聞いてんの?
- Kiiten no?
- Are you listening?
- 不可能じゃないの?
- Nominalizes an adjective, verb, or phrase
- 食べるのが大好きだ。
- Taberu no ga daisuki da.
- I like eating very much.
- 食べるのが大好きだ。
Usage notes
- In senses 3 and 4, だ (da) changes to the attributive な (na) when followed by の (no).
- 可能なの?
- kanō na no?
- Is it possible?
- 色がきれいなのがいい。
- Iro ga kirei na no ga ii.
- I prefer something with a beautiful color.
- 可能なの?
- For sense 3, use of の in declarative sentences for emphasis carries a female undertone (cf. わ).
- の is sometimes weakened into ん (n) in fixed compounds, such as 桜ん坊 (sakuranbō, “Japanese cherry”) or 飴ん棒 (amenbō, “lollipop”).
Derived terms
- のか (no ka)
- のだ (no da), のです (no desu)
- ので (no de)
- のに (no ni)
- のね (no ne)
- のは (no wa)
- のや (no ya)
- のよ (no yo)
- あの, 彼の (ano)
- 天の (ama no), 天の (ame no)
- 彼 (kano)
- がの (ga no)
- この, 此の (kono)
- その, 其の (sono)
- だの (da no)
- 大の (dai no)
- ての (-te no),
- どの, 彼の (dono)
- なの (na no)
- 何の (nani no), 何の (nan no)
- への (e no)
- やの (ya no)
- よの (yo no)
- 世の (yo no)
Etymology 3
Readings of various kanji.
Noun
の (rōmaji no)
References
- 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
- 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN