kuni

See also: Kuni, kuní, and kū-nî

Estonian

Etymology

The ku- stem (from Proto-Finnic *ku-) with the terminative case suffix -ni. Compare Finnish kunnes and Votic kuniz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkuni/, [ˈkunʲi]
• Rhymes: -uni
• Hyphenation: ku‧ni

Adverb

kuni (not comparable)

1. up to, to (emphasising the limit of attainability of a phenomenon, a situation)

   Saal mahutab kuni 500 inimest. ― The hall can accommodate up to 500 people.

   Ma võin jääda siia kuni nädalaks. ― I could stay here for up to a week.

   Mäed on kuni kilomeeter kõrged. ― The mountains are up to a kilometre high.

   Heinamaa ulatus sooservast kuni põllu äärde välja. ― The grassland extended from the edge of the bog to the edge of the field.

   Nähtus ulatub tagasi kuni esiajaloolisse aega. ― The phenomenon dates back to prehistoric times.

Derived terms

• kuniks

 

Conjunction

kuni

1. Indicating the time until which the action or situation expressed in the main clause will take place: until, till

   Magasin, kuni mind äratati. ― I slept until I was woken up.

   Tee seda, kuni pole hilja! ― Do it until it's not too late!

   Seni linnuke lendab, kuni ta pesa leiab. ― The bird flies till he finds a nest.

   Ta ootas, kuni teised järele jõudsid. ― He waited until the others caught up.

2. (uncommon) while
3. Linking words or phrases that indicate the scope of something: to

   Mul läheb aega veel viis kuni kümme minutit. ― It will take me another five to ten minutes.

   Kümne kuni kaheteistkümne päeva pärast kirjutatakse ta haiglast välja. ― After ten to twelve days (s)he will be discharged from hospital.

   kuue- kuni kaheksa-aastased lapsed ― children aged six to eight

   Seene kübar on kollakas- kuni kahvatupruun. ― The mushroom cap is yellowish to pale brown.

Preposition

kuni (+ terminative case)

1. up to, to; until, till (emphasises the boundary marked by a noun up to which something occurs)

   Saadan sind kuni järgmise tänavanurgani. ― I'll walk you to the next street corner.

   Käed olid kuni küünarnukkideni sidemeis. ― My hands were bandaged up to the elbows.

   Töötasin sellel kohal kuni 1965. aastani. ― I worked at this place until 1965.

   Pidutseti kuni keskööni. ― They partied till midnight.

   Ma ei unusta seda kuni surmatunnini. ― I won't forget it till the hour of my death.

   See komme on säilinud kuni tänapäevani. ― This custom has survived to this day.

   Kotka tiibade siruulatus küünib kuni 2 meetrini. ― The eagle's wingspan reaches up to 2 metres.

   Kõik oli kuni pisiasjadeni läbi mõeldud. ― Everything was planned down to the last detail.

   Võttis riided kuni särgini seljast. ― He took his clothes off down to his shirt.

Usage notes

The preposition can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence, due to the terminative case, which the preposition takes, having the exact same function.

References

• kuni in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “kuni”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkuni/, [ˈkuni]
• Rhymes: -uni
• Syllabification^(key): ku‧ni

Conjunction

kuni (poetic or dialectal)

1. Alternative form of kuin.

Particle

kuni (poetic or dialectal)

1. Alternative form of kuin.
   • 1954, “Ruusuja lurjukselta”, in Veikko Lavi (lyrics), Ruusuja Lurjukselta / Espanjan Muistoja / Raiteilta Poissa / Kaunis Marie‎^[1], performed by Tapio Rautavaara:

     Siellä lapset olivat kauniit, / ja mies kuni filmistä

     There the children were beautiful, / and the man like in the movies

Gothic

Romanization

kuni

1. Romanization of 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌹

Hausa

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kù.nîː/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [kʷʊ̀.nîː]

Noun

kùnî m (possessed form kùnîn)

1. (pharmacology) quinine

Japanese

Romanization

kuni

1. Rōmaji transcription of くに

Polish

Etymology

From kuna +‎ -i.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.ɲi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uɲi
• Syllabification: ku‧ni

Adjective

kuni (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (relational) marten (of, pertaining to, or characteristic of martens)

Declension

Declension of kuni (soft)

singular					plural
	masculine animate	masculine inanimate	feminine	neuter	virile (= masculine personal)	non-virile
nominative	kuni		kunia	kunie	kuni	kunie
genitive	kuniego		kuniej	kuniego	kunich
dative	kuniemu		kuniej	kuniemu	kunim
accusative	kuniego	kuni	kunią	kunie	kunich	kunie
instrumental	kunim		kunią	kunim	kunimi
locative	kunim		kuniej	kunim	kunich

Further reading

• kuni in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

kuni (Cyrillic spelling куни)

1. dative/locative singular of kuna

Verb

kuni (Cyrillic spelling куни)

1. second-person singular imperative of kleti

Swahili

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *dʊ̀kʊ́nì.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

Noun

kuni

1. plural of ukuni: firewood