Clauson (1972)
An etimological dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish
p. 774
ne:
Originally an Interrog. Pron. ‘what?’ used in speaking of inanimate objects in the same way that kim is used of animate beings, and like that word also used as a Pron. Adj. and later, under the influence of Indo-European grammar, as a Relative and occasionally in an exclamatory sense. In all these meanings it is sometimes also used of animate beings. As well as the derivatives below some oblique cases are almost used as Advs. The word and its der. f.s are discussed at length in v. G. ATG, see Index, p. 212. C.i.a.p.a.l. Türkü viii ne: xağanka: işig küçig berümmen ‘to which xağan shall I offer my services?’ I E 9, II E 9; (we are an army of two or three thousand) kelteçimiz bar mu: ne: ‘would it be (a good thing) for us to come?’ T 14; ben saŋa: ne: ayayım ‘what shall I say to you?’ T 32; neke: tezer biz . . . neke: korkur biz . . . ne basmalım tegelim ‘Why are we running away? . . . Why are we afraid? . . . Why should we be downcast? Let us attack.’ T 38-9; a.o. T 57: viii ff. anığ kılınçlığ şımnu: ne: yavlak çulvu: sakındı: ‘what evil blasphemy did that wicked demon think of?’ Toyok III v. 2-7 (ETY II 178): Man. ne bar ermiş tepen biltimiz ‘we knew what existed’ (before there was a heaven and earth) Chuas. 163; (if our prayers have not reached God) ne yerde tıdıntı tutuntı erser ‘but have been obstructed or detained somewhere’ do. 217-18; (we knew) teŋrili yekli nede ötrü süŋüşmiş ‘why heaven and the demon fought’ 164-5; o.o. do. 169, 172, etc.; ne üçün teser ‘if one says “why?”’ M III 6, 7 (i): Uyğ. viii ff. Man.-A ne üçün teser M I 23, 29; ne er sen ‘what man are you?’ do. 33, 19: Bud. ne üçün ‘why?’ PP 4, 5 etc.; neke ‘why?’ do. 5, 2 etc.; tusu:sı ne bar ‘what advantage has it?’ PP 21, 1; Sanskrit yāvacca ‘and as much as’ ne: yaŋlığ yeme: TT VIII A.2; ne: yörüg ‘what interpretation?’ do. H.6; ne ayıtmış kergek ‘what ought one to ask?’ TT X 16; o.o. do. 55, 197, etc.: ne yeme followed by Conditional ‘whatever’ (may . . .) TT IV 10, 8 etc.; ne erser asığka tusuka kirmedi ‘did not enter into any kind of advantage (Hend.)’ Suv. 612, 2-3: Civ. ne busuş ol ‘what grief is there?’ TT I 187; ne ada bolğay ‘what danger will come?’ do. VII 30, 2—ne kim iş kılsa ‘whatever he does’ do. 28, 37 (in these texts negü: is much commoner than ne:): Xak. xi ne: a Particle (ḥarf) meaning mā ḏā ‘what?’; hence one says ne: temsen ‘what do you say?’: ne: a Particle expressing surprise (al-ta‘accub), hence one says ne: me: edgü: kişi: ol ‘what a good man (etc.) he is!’ or ne: me: yavuz ne:ŋ ol bu: ‘what a bad thing this is!’ Kaş. III 214; and about 20 o.o. as either an Interrog. Pron. or Adj., e.g. ne: uğurda: keldiŋ ‘at what time did you come?’ I 53, 14: KB ne ‘what?’ is common in conversation, e.g. tileki ne ermiş ‘what was his wish?’ 503; o.o. 507, etc.—ne erse ‘anyone’ or ‘anything’, declined as a N., is common, e.g. ne ersedin ermez seniŋ birlikiŋ ne erseleriŋ sen törüttüŋ seniŋ ‘Thou hast no oneness with anyone; any that Thou hast created are Thine’ 13: xiii(?) At. ne ‘what?’ as a Pron. or Adj. is common, e.g. tavar aşğı ne ol ‘what is the advantage of wealth?’ 287; ne neŋ bar ‘what thing is there?’ (as good as knowledge) 100—biligsiz ne aysa ‘whatever the ignorant man says’ 119—ne kim kelse erke ‘whatever comes to a man’ 145; Tef. ne ‘what?’; ne kim (. . . erse) ‘whatever’; nerse ‘some, something’ 227-8: xiv Muh. ayş ‘what?’ ne: Mel. 5, 7; Rif. 75; (Interrog.) mā ‘what?’ ne: (sic) 16, 15; 94 (followed by examples); ne: has an Interrog. meaning and corresponds to ayy şay’ ‘what?’, e.g. ‘what are you doing?’ ne: kılursen; ‘what do you want?’ ne: tile:rsen 17, 19; 96: Çağ. xv ff. the entries in Vel. are confused; ne is translated by ne, and oblique cases, etc., of ne by corresponding oblique cases of ne, e.g. nege neye that is ne içün ‘why?’, also ne nesneye ‘to what thing?’, but the Acc. Suff. -nı/-ni is also entered as a separate word and so translated fulān ‘so-and-so’, and the Gen. Suff. -nıŋ/-niŋ translated fulānıŋ 391 ff.; ne is a word which when placed at the beginning of a sentence means çi: ‘what?’, the Pe. Interrog. Pron. (and at the end of a word is the Acc. Suff.) San. 322r. 3 (various der. f.s and phr. like nā üçün ‘why?’ follow): Xwar. xiv ne ‘what?’, nerse ‘thing’ Qutb 113; MN 250, etc.: Kom. xiv ne (also nege, neden) occurs as an Interrog., Indefinite, and Relative Pron./Pron. Adj. CCI, CCG; Gr. 168-9 (quotns.): Kıp. xiii ayş ne: Hou. 56, 15 ff.: xiv ne: ayy şay’ İd. 89; ayş ne:; ‘alā ayş neçün (-c-) Bul. 15, 6; fi‘l li’l-ta‘accub ne:; li-acal ayş ne:nüŋ wüçün (sic) do. 16, 2-3: xv ne: (bi-imāla, i.e. ne: not na:) ayş; also ne: Kav. 16, 8 (various der. f.s and phr. follow): Osm. xiv ff. ne with various idiomatic meanings and in phr.; c.i.a.p. TTS I 525 ff.; II 702 ff.; III 517 ff.; IV 584 ff.