Using な in positive instead of negative imperative (e.g. 行きな)


Putting な after a plain verb turns it into [negative
imperative](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1585/about-the-part-
in-negative-imperative-verb-form-e-g).

But I noticed that in spoken Japanese, putting な after conjunctive form (連用形)
turns it into positive imperative. For example:

> 遊びに行きなよ。

Is this usage standard or colloquial? Also, it seems that it's usually used by
elders towards younger people so does it have special nuances, for example
maybe like patronizing?




By popular demand:

That's not the negative imperative particle. Rather, it's an abbreviation of
なさい, probably via the elided form なはい or なあ. See
[here](http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/japanese/?search=%E3%81%AA&match=beginswith&itemid=14953500).
It's colloquial _and_ standard (meaning everyone understands what it means).

Your observation that it's a bit patronising is probably correct—notice that
なさい has similar connotations—but I'm not a usage expert, so I'll let someone
else answer that part of your question.




By popular demand:

That's not the negative imperative particle. Rather, it's an abbreviation of
なさい, probably via the elided form なはい or なあ. See
[here](http://www.excite.co.jp/dictionary/japanese/?search=%E3%81%AA&match=beginswith&itemid=14953500).
It's colloquial _and_ standard (meaning everyone understands what it means).

Your observation that it's a bit patronising is probably correct—notice that
なさい has similar connotations—but I'm not a usage expert, so I'll let someone
else answer that part of your question.

