-ien
Contents
BretonEdit
EtymologyEdit
Cognate to Welsh -ion, Cornish -yon.
SuffixEdit
-ien
- Noun pluralization suffix; sometimes with vocalic ablaut in the pluralized noun
Derived termsEdit
FrenchEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle French -ien, from Old French -ien, from Latin -iānus, from -ānus. Cognate to French -ain and -an.
PronunciationEdit
SuffixEdit
-ien m (feminine -ienne)
- Denotes where something or someone is from; -ian.
- Paris → parisien (“Parisian”) / Parisien (“Parisian”)
- Californie → californien (“Californian”) / Californien (“Californian”)
Derived termsEdit
GermanEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle High German -ie, -je, from Latin -ia (feminine singular).
SuffixEdit
-ien n
- Used to form country names; -ia
Etymology 2Edit
From Latin -ia (neuter plural). In some cases, analysable within German as a regular plural of an earlier form in -ium; e.g. Principium as an obsolete variant of Prinzip. The singular ending was sometimes lost, leaving -ien as a new, irregular plural suffix. In other cases, simply following the Latin i-declension (singular in -e, plural in -ia).
SuffixEdit
-ien pl
- Used to form the plurals of some neuter nouns of Latin descent whose original plural ends in -ia.
- Material + -ien → Materialien
- Prinzip + -ien → Prinzipien
- Reptil + -ien → Reptilien
Usage notesEdit
- Not all nouns whose Latin plural is -ia necessarily take this ending. Some take a regular plural in -e, or have both forms alongside (for example, Reptile).
Middle FrenchEdit
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EtymologyEdit
From Old French -ien, from Latin -iānus
SuffixEdit
-ien (feminine equivalent -ienne)