-n

See also: Appendix:Variations of "n"

Contents

English

Etymology 1

Suffix

-n

1. Alternative form of -en

   silvern

Etymology 2

Suffix

-n

1. Alternative form of -an, adjective or noun suffix meaning "of or pertaining to", used with words which already end in a.

   Java : Javan, Burma : Burman, Minnesota : Minnesotan (see also Russia : Russian)

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Chuukese

Suffix

-n

1. Alternative form of -en

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Emilian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n/

Pronoun

-n (adverbial)

1. (enclitic, after a vowel) Alternative form of in

   Manjēn un pōk! ― Eat some of it! (imperative, plural)

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Esperanto

Etymology

From Ancient Greek -ν (-n) (masculine and feminine accusative ending) and/or German -en (masculine accusative ending).

Suffix

-n

1. accusative ending
2. ending indicating destination: In the direction of, and arriving at

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Finnish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *-n, from Proto-Uralic *-n (“genitive suffix”).

Suffix

-n

1. Used to form the genitive case.

   tytön takki "a girl's coat"

   poikani takki "the coat of my son"

Usage notes

• When possessive suffixes are used, the genitive doesn't have its suffix -n. The possessive suffixes are appended to a vowel stem instead, thus rendering the nominative and genitive singular identical.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Finnic *-n, from Proto-Uralic *-m (“accusative suffix”).

Suffix

-n

1. Used to form the accusative case.

   • Näin tytön.
     • I saw a/the girl.
   • Tapasin poikani eilen.
     • I met my son yesterday.

Usage notes

• The genitive singular and accusative singular look coincidentally identical in Finnish. The object of a transitive verb may look also like the nominative but it's still called the accusative in traditional grammars. There's also the partial object, which uses the partitive case. For the accusative forms of personal pronouns and the interrogative pronoun ken, see -t.

Etymology 3

From Proto-Finnic *-n.

Suffix

-n

1. Used to form the instructive case, usually only in the plural.

   Pääsin ojan yli kuivin jaloin "I could cross the ditch with dry feet."

Usage notes

• The only occasion where this suffix is used with a possessive suffix — without being to be translated — is the idiom käydä päinsä "to be acceptable" (the plural stem päi- of the noun pää and the suffix -nsä).

Etymology 4

• From the Uralic first-person singular suffix *-mV, probably connected with the first person pronoun *mV; see eg. Finnish minä.

Suffix

-n

1. (personal) the first-person singular suffix for verbs

   • lukea -> luen "I read/am reading"
   • kadottaa -> kadotin "I lost (an item)"
   • tulla -> en tule "I won't come/I'm not coming" (to express negation, the suffix is in the negation verb instead of the main verb)

See also

• -t
• -mme
• -tte
• -vat

Further reading

• Wikipedia article on Finnish grammar

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [n]

Suffix

-n

1. Alternative form of -en

Usage notes

• Used after -er, -el except in adjectives, where it is uncommon. Also used after vowels and vowel + -r, -l, but chiefly restricted to dated, poetic, or colloquial usage (except in Herrn, sein, tun).
• The use after reduced -e (as in Name → Namen) is more often interpreted in such a way that -e is deleted before the suffix -en, but it may just as well be interpreted as -e + -n.

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Hungarian

Suffix

-n

1. (adverbial suffix) Added to an adjective to form an adverb.

   ritka (“rare”) → ritkán (“rarely”)

2. (case suffix) on. Used to form the superessive case.

   hajó (“ship”) → a hajón (“on the ship”)

Usage notes

• (adverbial suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -n is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  -an is added to back vowel words ending in a consonant

  -en is added to front vowel words ending in a consonant

   Hungarian case suffixes

Case	Back vowel a, á, o, ó, u, ú	Front vowel
		unrounded e, é, i, í	rounded ö, ő, ü, ű
nominative	—
accusative	-t
	-ot / -at	-et	-öt
dative	-nak	-nek
instrumental	-val	-vel
causal-final	-ért
translative	-vá	-vé
terminative	-ig
essive-formal	-ként
essive-modal	-ul	-ül
inessive	-ban	-ben
superessive	-n
	-on	-en	-ön
adessive	-nál	-nél
illative	-ba	-be
sublative	-ra	-re
allative	-hoz	-hez	-höz
elative	-ból	-ből
delative	-ról	-ről
ablative	-tól	-től
Note for all endings: Stem-final -a/-e changes to -á-/-é-, respectively, except -ként.     alma - almában, but almaként     zene - zenében, but zeneként

• (case suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -n is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  -on is added to back vowel words ending in a consonant

  -en is added to unrounded front vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ön is added to rounded front vowel words ending in a consonant

Derived terms

► Hungarian adverbs suffixed with -n

See also

• Category:Hungarian words taking -n/-on/-en/-ön
• Category:Hungarian noun forms
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

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Ido

Etymology

From Esperanto -n, from German -en, Greek -ν (-n).

Suffix

-n

1. suffix forming accusative

Usage notes

The accusative ending in Ido is only required if the speaker breaks the subject–verb–object word order in Ido, one can not use the accusative ending if the word order is followed. E.g.

• La hundo chasas la skurelo. ― The dog chases the squirrel.
• La skurelon chasas la hundo. ― The dog chases the squirrel.

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Northern Sami

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Samic *-mē, from Proto-Uralic *-ma. Cognate with Finnish -ma.

Suffix

-n (with odd-syllable stems -eapmi)

2. Forms verbal nouns from verbs.

Usage notes

This suffix triggers the strong grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

Inflection

Odd, no gradation
Nominative	-n
Genitive	-ma
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-n	-mat
Accusative	-ma	-miid
Genitive	-ma	-miid
Illative	-mii	-miidda
Locative	-mis	-miin
Comitative	-miin	-miiguin
Essive	-min
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person -man -meamẹ -meamẹt 2nd person -mat -meattẹ -meattẹt 3rd person -mis -measkkạ -measẹt

Derived terms

► Northern Sami words suffixed with -n (verbal noun)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Samic *-një.

Suffix

-n

2. Forms instrument nouns from verbs.

Usage notes

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

Inflection

Odd, no gradation
Nominative	-n
Genitive	-na
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	-n	-nat
Accusative	-na	-niid
Genitive	-na	-niid
Illative	-nii	-niidda
Locative	-nis	-niin
Comitative	-niin	-niiguin
Essive	-nin
Possessive forms Singular Dual Plural 1st person -nan -neamẹ -neamẹt 2nd person -nat -neattẹ -neattẹt 3rd person -nis -neaskkạ -neasẹt

Derived terms

► Northern Sami words suffixed with -n (instrument)

Etymology 3

From Proto-Samic *-nē, from Proto-Uralic *-na. Cognate with Finnish -na.

Suffix

-n

1. The ending of the essive case.

Usage notes

This suffix triggers the strong grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

Etymology 4

From Proto-Samic *-më. Cognate with the first element of the Finnish fourth infinitive -mi-nen ~ -mi-se-.

Suffix

-n

1. The ending of the past participle.

Usage notes

This suffix triggers the strong grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

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Pitjantjatjara

Pronoun

-n (second person singular nominative, bound form of nyuntu)

1. you (singular)

Usage notes

Bound pronouns can be used instead of the regular "long form" pronouns. They act as clitics that attach to the last word of the first noun phrase in the sentence, or the conjunctions ka or munu if present.

Related terms

Pitjantjatjara personal pronouns (nominative case)

	Singular	Dual	Plural
First person	ngayulu (I) Bound form: -ṉa	ngali (we two) Bound form: -li	nganaṉa (we, more than two) Bound form: -la
Second person	nyuntu (you) Bound form: -n	nyupali (you two)	nyura (you, more than two)
Third person	paluṟu (he/she/it)	pula (they two)	tjana (they, more than two) Bound form: -ya

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Quechua

Suffix

-n

1. Indicates third-person singular possessive.

   wasi (“house”) → wasin (“his/her/its house”)

2. Third-person singular subject.

   rimay (“to speak”) → pay riman (“he/she/it speaks”)

3. Alternative spelling of -m

See also

• -nku

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Somali

Suffix

-n

1. Added to nouns to denote a specific or particular example

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Swedish

Suffix

-n

1. Suffix for singular definite form of common nouns, especially those ending with a vowel or with an unstressed -el, -er or -or. See also -en
2. Suffix for plural indefinite form of neuter nouns, if they end in a vowel. See also -t, -en.
3. A version of the -en of the fourth conjugation past participles. This allomorph is used only before the suffix -a, which marks for plural or definiteness. The -na of these participle forms may also be seen described as one morpheme.
4. Suffix which creates nouns out of certain verbs, usually denoting a result of an action. See also -an

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Zazaki

Suffix

-n

1. Suffix which creates nouns out of certain verbs, usually denoting a result of an action. See also -an