の


の U+306E, の
HIRAGANA LETTER NO
← ね
[U+306D] 		Hiragana は →
[U+306F]

Chinese
FWOTD – 29 November 2012

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from Japanese possessive marker の (no).

Pronunciation 1

Particle

の

  1. Nonstandard form of 的.

Pronunciation 2
優之良品 (uses の for 之)

Particle

の

  1. Nonstandard form of 之 (zhī).

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
1 stroke

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [no̞]

Etymology 1

Derived in the Heian period from writing the man'yōgana kanji 乃 in the cursive sōsho style.

Syllable

の (romaji no)

  1. The hiragana syllable の (no). Its equivalent in katakana is ノ (no). It is the twenty-fifth syllable in the gojūon order; its position is な行お段 (na-gyō o-dan, “row na, section o”).
See also

Etymology 2
Alternative spellings
乃 (rare, literary)
之 (rare, literary)

⟨no2⟩ → */nə/ → /no/

From Old Japanese の (no2),[1][2] in turn from Proto-Japonic *nə. Appears in common use in the Kojiki (712 CE). Perhaps also cognate with *nə, an element found in some Old Korean place names.[3]

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:

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 • (no) 

  1. genitive case marker
    1. indicates possession: of, -'s
      私(わたし)の意(い)見(けん) ― watashi no iken ― my opinion
    2. indicates identity or apposition
      大統(だいとう)領(りょう)のブッシュ氏(し) ― daitōryō no Busshu-shi ― the President, Mr. Bush
      山(やま)田(だ)の馬鹿(ばか)野(や)郎(ろう)！ ― Yamada no baka yarō! ― Yamada, you stupid jerk!
      山(やま)田(だ)の奴(やつ) ― Yamada no yatsu ― that dude Yamada
    3. a noun, adverb, or phrase modifier
      数学(すうがく)の分(ぶん)野(や) ― sūgaku no bun'ya ― the field of mathematics
      緑(みどり)の車(くるま) ― midori no kuruma ― green car
      全(すべ)ての商(しょう)品(ひん) ― subete no shōhin ― all goods
      母(はは)への手(て)紙(がみ) ― haha e no tegami ― letter to mom
  2. nominative case marker in a relative or subordinate clause
    眉(まゆ)毛(げ)の濃(こ)い人(ひと) ― mayuge no koi hito ― a man whose eyebrow is thick
    Synonym: が (ga)
  3. a sentence ending that indicates emphasis or a question, depending on intonation
    不可(ふか)能(のう)じゃないの？ ― fukanō ja nai no? ― Isn't it impossible?
    聞(き)いてんの？ ― kiiten no? ― Are you listening?
  4. Nominalizes an adjective, verb, or phrase
    Synonyms: 事 (koto), 物 (mono)
    食(た)べるのが大(だい)好(す)きだ。 ― taberu no ga daisuki da. ― I like eating very much.
  5. (literary) used with bare i-adjective stem
    懐(なつ)かしのうた ― natsukashi no uta ― nostalgic song
    麗(うるわ)しの君(きみ) ― uruwashi no kimi ― beautiful you
Usage notes
  • In senses 3 and 4, だ (da) changes to the attributive な (na) when followed by の (no).
    可(か)能(のう)なの? ― kanō na no? ― Is it possible?
    色(いろ)がきれいなのがいい。 ― iro ga kirei na no ga ii. ― I prefer something with a beautiful color.
  • For sense 3, use of の in declarative sentences for emphasis carries a female undertone, as compared with わ (wa).
  • 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
Derived terms

See also
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 的 (de), 之 (zhī)
  • Korean: 의 (-ui)

Etymology 3
For pronunciation and definitions of の – see the following entry.
【野】2
[noun] an area, field
[noun] the hidden part of a structure
[prefix] wild
[prefix] rustic, unsophisticated
[proper noun] a surname
(This term, の, is an alternative spelling of the above term.
For a list of all kanji read as の, not just those used in Japanese terms, see Category:Japanese kanji read as の.)

Etymology 4

Readings of various kanji.

Noun

の • (no) 

  1. 篦: the shaft of an arrow; Pseudosasa japonica (arrow bamboo))
  2. 幅, 布: a unit of measurement for cloth breadth, approximately 36 centimeters

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. Vovin, Alexander (2013), “From Koguryo to T'amna”, in Korean Linguistics‎ (PDF), volume 15, issue 2, John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, pages 222-240

Old Japanese

Etymology 1

From Proto-Japonic *nə.

Pronunciation appears to be distinct from 野 (no1, “plain, field”).

Particle

の (no2)

  1. genitive case marker
    1. indicates possession: of, -'s
    2. indicates identity or apposition
    3. a noun, adverb, or phrase modifier
Derived terms
See also

Etymology 2

Readings of various kanji.

Noun

の (no1)

  1. 野: plain, field
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