ni (Norwegian Bokmål)
Where does "ni" come from?
The Norwegian word 'ni' descends from the Old Norse 'níu' and ultimately traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁néwn̥'. This ancient term for 'nine' evolved through Proto-Germanic as '*newun', eventually branching into various Germanic languages including English 'nine', German 'neun', and modern Scandinavian forms.
Full etymology tree
- ni (Norwegian Bokmål), 'nine'
- inherited níu (Old Norse), 'nine'
- inherited *ᚾᛁᚢ (Proto-Norse), 'nine'
- inherited *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
- derived *newunt (Proto-Germanic)
- suffix -t (Proto-Germanic)
- influence *tehun (Proto-Germanic), 'ten'
- inherited *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European), 'nine'
- derived *néwos (Proto-Indo-European), 'new'
- derived *h₁enu- (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *h₁new (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *newunt (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *newun (Proto-Germanic), 'nine'
- inherited *ᚾᛁᚢ (Proto-Norse), 'nine'
- inherited níu (Old Norse), 'nine'
Ancestors
- níu (Old Norse)
- *newun (Proto-Germanic)
- *h₁néwn̥ (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- ni (Danish)
- nine (English)
- níggju (Faroese)
- neun (German)
- 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (Gothic)
- níu (Icelandic)
- nigon (Old English)
- niun (Old High German)
- nio (Swedish)
- njoggen (West Frisian)
Descendants and derived words
- førtini (Norwegian Bokmål)
- nittini (Norwegian Bokmål)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris