-ien

BretonEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Breton -ion, -on, Proto-Brythonic *-onos, *-onā. Cognate to Welsh -ion, Cornish -yon.

SuffixEdit

-ien

Noun pluralization suffix; sometimes with vocalic ablaut in the pluralized noun
‎lenner (“reader”) + ‎-ien → ‎lennerien (“readers”)

‎mab (“son”) + ‎-ien → ‎mibien (“sons”)

Derived termsEdit

Breton words suffixed with -ien

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Middle French -ien, from Old French -ien, from Latin -iānus, from -ānus. Cognate to French -ain and -an.

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /jɛ̃/

SuffixEdit

-ien m (feminine -ienne)

Denotes where something or someone is from; -ian.
Paris → parisien (“Parisian”) / Parisien (“Parisian”)

Californie → californien (“Californian”) / Californien (“Californian”)
Relating to; -ian.
vadimien

Derived termsEdit

French words suffixed with -ien

GermanEdit

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /i̯ən/, [i.ən], [jən]
Audio
(file)

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).