んば

Japanese

Etymology

Shift from は (ha). First attested in 平家物語 (Heike Monogatari, “The Tale of the Heike”) of the early 1200s.[1]

/-ba/ → /-mba/

The は (ha) was probably originally the topic particle, also used in contrastive emphasis to indicate a conditional in certain constructions.[1][2][3] Compare modern なくては (nakute wa). The nasal likely appeared due to the voicing of the negative auxiliary ず (zu) that often preceded the particle in this usage. Over time, this then became conflated with the regular conditional verb suffix ば (ba).[1]

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [mba̠]

Particle

んば • (-nba) 

  1. (archaic) Alternative form of ば (-ba, “if”)
    [[虎穴に入らずんば虎子を得ず|虎(こ)穴(けつ)に入(い)らずんば虎(こ)子(じ)を得(え)ず
    koketsu ni irazunba koji o ezu
    ]]You cannot catch a tiger cub without entering a tiger's lair → nothing ventured, nothing gained
    信(しん)用(よう)なくんば尊(そん)敬(けい)されない
    shin'yō nakunba sonkei sarenai
    You cannot be respected without reputation.

Usage notes

This form attaches to adjective ～く (-ku) forms or the auxiliary ず (-zu). It corresponds to the archaic 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis stem”) + ば (-ba) form of verbs.

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN

Yonaguni

Etymology

From Proto-Ryukyuan *suba, from Proto-Japonic *sunpa.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [mbà]

Noun

んば (nba) 

  1. lip
    にぐらきてぃんばつーみどぅぶる
    nigura kiti nba tsūmi duburu
    I got scared and my lips turned white.
    んばっくりるたうったり
    nba kkuriruta uttari
    (please add an English translation of this example)
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