نی

نی • (ní)

1. now

• انوں (annõ)
• انی (anní)
• نون (nún)
• نیں (ní̃)

From Proto-Dravidian *nīn.

نی (nī)

1. you (singular)

نَی (nəy)

1. Arabic spelling of nəy (“what”)

نَی (nəy)

1. Arabic spelling of nəy (“why”)

From Middle Persian KNYA / nʾd (nay, “reed, cane”), nʾd (nāy, “tube, flute, clarion”); see نای (nây) for more.

• نای (nây)

Readings
Classical reading?	nay
Dari reading?	nay
Iranian reading?	ney
Tajik reading?	nay

Dari	نی
Iranian Persian
Tajik	най

نی • (ney) (plural نی‌ها (ney-hâ))

1. reed
2. cane
3. straw
4. ney
5. flute

• نیزار (neyzâr)
• نیستان (neyestân)
• نی‌زن (ney-zan)
• نی‌ساز (ney-sâz)
• نی‌لبک (ney-labak)
• سرنای (sornây)

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “nay; nāy”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 58

Inherited from Middle Persian 𐭫𐭠 / 𐭭𐭩 (nē), from Proto-Iranian *ná, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ná, from Proto-Indo-European *ne (“not”).

Readings
Classical reading?	nē
Dari reading?	nē
Iranian reading?	ni
Tajik reading?	ne

Dari	نه, نی
Iranian Persian	نه
Tajik	не, на

نی • (ni, nê)

1. (chiefly Dari, Tajik, otherwise archaic) no

نی (nī)

1. negation

نی (nī)

1. not

نی (nī)

1. no