NI, substitute pron.  (Extracted from the prim. noun—Ni, which see.  Kamba, eniu.)
    1.  You; ye, 2d person plur., as:  ni ya hamba, i.e.: you do walk.  It is also used in the objective case, and placed immediately before the predicate-verb, as:  ba ya ni zonda, i.e.:  they do hate you.
    2.  It is suffixed to the imperative, as:  yizani, i.e.:  come ye;—ba bulaleni, i.e.:  lit.:  them kill you, = do ye kill them.  We observe, in the last case, that the pri. noun—ini—is retained, and contracted with bulala-ini.  This is a standing rule which takes place whenever an objective case is connected with the second pers. plur. of the imperative.
    i—NI, pri. n.  (From the root ins, see na, to join, to unite.  It is most probably an original plur. of the sing. unu, as imi of umu, &c.  Kamba, eniu.  See Introduction, nominal forms.)
    1.  It is used as a nominal form, denoting radically:  something like, a likeness, expressing individuality or identity, and specifying genus and classes of persons and things.  In this capacity it is like the English terminations—ion, as in union, and—ship, as in fellowship, &c., as:  inhlangano, collection; or like the adjectives—interior, internal, inside, principal, chief, &c.
    2.  When compounded with other words it is subject to several changes:  a. When followed by another vowel its final i is always compressed into y, as: inye, one (= unus)—from ini-e (Sis. ngue. Kamba, nini);—inyoni, from ini-oni (Kamba, nioni);—umunyu, from umu-ni-u (Suaheli and Nika, muniu);—b. When followed by the consonants d, g, t, k, its final vowel is dropped, as:  indoda, from ini-doda;—ingubo, from ini-gubo;—into, from ini-to;—inkomo, from inikomo;—c.  But when preceding a labial, its final vowel is dropped and n changes into m, as: imfe, from ini-fe;—(into) embi, from eni-bi.  The same changes take place when its initial i is dropped and u put in its stead for the purpose of creating proper nouns, or nouns expressing rank or classes (see Umu, 1, 2), as:  undasa, unyoko, from uni-oko, &c.
    3.  It is used as a suffix forming a locative case, retaining, however, its primary meaning of identity, as: euhlwini, in the house, from inhlu-ini. (See Ni, 2, and Na, 7).
    The rule for all cases, which come under this section, is but one:  ini is simply suffixed, and the final vowel of the antecedent must either change into a semi-vowel as inhlu—enhlwini, or it is contracted with the initial of ini, as:  esityeni, from isitya-ini; and two concurrent vowels contract into their correspondent single one, as:  enkosini, from inkosi-ini. (A Zulu-Kafir Dictionary, Döhne, 1857).