[Serie: All About Japanese Particles]
*1. After nouns, indicates that there is nothing other than the thing(s) stipulated : “only.”
Note: In this usage, nomi and dake have the same meaning, but nomi is used more in writing than in the spoken language. Nomi can be combined with (followed by) shika, as in the second sample sentence below.
この会議には、4つの国の代表のみが出席した。
Kono kaigi ni wa, yottsu no kuni no daihyō nomi ga shusseki shita.
The representatives of only four countries attended this conference.
以前、この大学には男性のみしか入れなかった。
Izen, kono daigaku ni wa dansei nomi shika hairenakatta.
In the past, only men were able to enter this university.
*2. Used in the form A nomi narazu B mo: “not only … but also.”
Note: This usage is essentially equivalent to bakari (#21, no. 2) and dake (#22, no. 4), but is found more in the written than in the spoken language.
この大学の文学部の学生は、英語のみならずフランス語も勉強しなければならない。
Kono daigaku no bungaku-bu no gakusei wa, Eigo nomi narazu Furansu-go mo benkyō shinakereba naranai.
The students in the literature department of this university must study not only English, but French as well.
シェークスピアは戯曲のみならず詩もたくさん書いた。
Shēkusupia wa gikyoku nomi narazu shi mo takusan kaita.
Shakespeare wrote not only plays, but many poems as well.
– Source: All about particles – A handbook of Japanese function words –
