List of Ainu Terms - N

N

• nan (ナン) - face (possessed form nanu ナヌ or nanuhu ナヌフ)
  • nanuwen (ナヌウェン) - ugly (literally, "its face is bad")
    • nanuwen-cep (ナヌウェンチェㇷ゚) - sea raven, shaggy sculpin, Hemitripterus villosus
• nanna (ナンナ) - mother (nanna was used in Sakhalin dialects; the variant nonno ノンノ was used by the Kuril Islands Ainu)
• nay (ナィ) - dale, valley (esp. one which has a stream or a marsh); (mountain) stream, brook, river (appears in some Hokkaido place names, e.g. Makomanai and Wakkanai; cf. Middle Korean nay ~ nayh- > Modern Korean "brook, creek, small river")
• ne (ネ) - to be; to become
• ne (ネ)
  • nekone (ネコネ) - What's the matter?, What's wrong?
  • nen (ネン) - who (<*ne niw "what person")
    • nenka (ネンカ) - someone, anyone, no one (e.g. nenka isam "There is no one (at all)")
  • nep (ネプ) - what; something, anything (<*ne pe "what thing")
    • nepka (ネプカ) - something, anything, nothing (e.g. nepka e eram an "Do you know something (about it)?", nepka isam "There is nothing (at all)")
  • newno (ネゥノ) - where, whence, whither
  • neyta (ネィタ) - where, whence, whither
• ni （ニ） - tree; wood
  • ni kapuhu (ニカプフ) - bark of a tree
  • nikara (ニカラ) - a notched log used as a ladder to access an elevated structure
  • nina (ニナ) - to collect firewood
  • nitay (ニタィ) - woods, forest
• ni (ニ) (cf. Korean ni > i "tooth, teeth" and Nivkh nəγs "teeth")
  • nimak (ニマㇰ) - tooth, teeth (mimak or imak in some dialects; possessed form nimaki ~ nimakihi)
  • nirus (ニルㇱ) - gums (of the teeth)
• nis (ニㇱ) - sky, heaven, air; cloud (cf. Nivkh lɨx "sky, weather")
  • niskur (ニㇱクㇽ) - cloud
• nisat (ニサッ) - morning, dawn; tomorrow
• nispa (ニㇱパ) - a master, an owner; a wealthy person, a rich man, the rich; a gentleman, a lord; an honorific title for a man, Mr.
• nisu (ニス) - a mortar (perhaps from Ainu ni "tree; wood" + Ainu su "pot")
• nit (ニッ) - handle; stick, rod; skewer, spit (possessed form ニチ nici)
  • nitne (ニッネ) - to be hard, to be solid, to be firm
• nociw (ノチゥ) - star
• nok (ノㇰ) - egg; testicle (cf. Nivkh ŋóik "egg")
• nokkew (ノッケゥ) - jaw (probably from Ainu not "chin; cape, promontory" + obsolete Ainu *kew "bone")
  • kanna-nokkew (カンナノッケゥ) - upper jaw
• nonno (ノンノ) - flower
• noski (ノㇱキ) - middle, center (variants include noske ノㇱケ)
• nospa (ノㇱパ) - to chase, to pursue, to run after, to follow
• not (ノッ) - chin; cape, promontory
• notak (ノタㇰ) - blade, cutting edge, sharp edge of a tool (possessed form ノタク notaku or ノタクフ notakuhu)
• noto (ノト) - calm (of the sea, etc.), lull (dialectal variants include neto ネト)
• noype (ノィペ) - brain; temples (of the head)
• nu (ヌ) - to hear, to listen
• numa (ヌマ) - hair (of the body)
• numan (ヌマン) - yesterday
• nup (ヌプ) - (wild) field, plain, fen, tableland
  • nupka (ヌプカ) - id.
• nupe （ヌペ） - tears
• nupek (ヌペㇰ) - light (dialectal variants include nipek and nikep; possessed form nupeki, nipeki, nikepihi, etc.)
  • ninninkep (ニンニンケプ) - a firefly, a glowworm (ニニンケプ nininkep in the dialect of Urakawa)
• nupuri (ヌプリ) - mountain
• nusa （ヌサ） - a word that collectively describes an altar and the many inaw (a shaved stick used in an offertory ceremony) that decorate it (cf. obsolete Japanese 幣 nusa "an offering made to a deity; an object that is used in a ceremony of purification (harae); a gift, esp. one that is presented on the occasion of a person's setting out on a journey")