n-

^ Schumacher, Stefan, Matzinger, Joachim (2013) Die Verben des Altalbanischen: Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie (Albanische Forschungen; 33) (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN
^ Orel, Vladimir E. (2000) A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian‎^[1], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 168

Aromanian

Prefix

n-

Alternative form of ãn-

Big Nambas

Alternative forms

na-

Etymology

From Proto-Oceanic *na.

Article

n-

The noun article. Added to nouns and verb stems to affirm nominal use. Has an element of definiteness. Also used in derivation.

Usage notes

This form used before vowels. Before consonants, the form na- is used.

References

Big Nambas Grammar Pacific Linguistics - G.J. Fox

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch ne, en, from Old Dutch ne, from Proto-Germanic *ne.

Prefix

n-

Used to negate the pronoun or adverb which follows it, yielding the same part of speech

Derived terms

Dutch terms prefixed with n-

nie

Egyptian

Prefix

forms intransitive or reflexive verbs from existing verbs

Derived terms

Egyptian terms prefixed with n-

nkt

Prefix

Alternative form of m- (noun-forming prefix) before labial consonants

References

Satzinger, Helmut (2017) “A Lexicon of Egyptian Lexical Roots (Project)” in Quaderni di Vicino Oriente, volume 12, pages 213–223

Emilian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /n/

Pronoun

n- (adverbial)

(before a vowel) Alternative form of in
A-g n-ò dimándi. ― I have a lot (of them).

French

Etymology

Abbreviation of normale.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛn/

Prefix

n-

(organic chemistry) n-; (normal-form)

Derived terms

French terms prefixed with n-

n-butane

Kamba

Alternative forms

ni-

Prefix

n-

I (used for conjugating verbs to the subjective or nominative case of the personal pronoun)

Maltese

Etymology 1

From Arabic نَ (na, first-person plural imperfect prefix). The use also for the first-person singular is found in Maghrebi Arabic dialects.

Alternative forms

na-, ne-, ni-, no- (depending on syllable structure)

Prefix

n-

First-person prefix in the imperfect conjugation
‎n- + ‎kiteb (“he wrote”) → ‎nikteb (“I write”)

Etymology 2

Article

n-

Alternative form of il-

Usage notes

Used after a vowel and before the letter n. For details on usage, see the main lemma.

Neapolitan

Alternative forms

m-, l- (from assimilation to following consonants)

Etymology

Inherited from Latin in-.

Prefix

n-

in

Derived terms

Neapolitan terms prefixed with n-

nchiudere

nfocare

nzerrare

Ojibwe

Prefix

n-

Alternative form of ni-

Usage notes

n- appears before stems that begin with the vowels oo and ii.

Old Irish

Alternative form of d-

Swahili

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu *ǹ-.

Alternative forms

(before a vowel) ny-
(before labial consonants) m-

Prefix

n- (plural n-)

n class_(IX/X) noun prefix and adjective agreement prefix, denoting animals and miscellaneous nouns as well as their plurals, and plurals of some u class_(XI) nouns
nguo nzuri ― a nice piece of cloth/nice clothes

‎ulimi (“tongue”) → ‎ndimi (“tongues”)

Usage notes

Foreign borrowings that cannot fit other classes morphologically usually behave as n class_(IX), but do not take this prefix.

Except for nouns where the stem is of one syllable, n can only be followed by g, d, j, y, and z in Swahili. As a result of this, when the stem starts with a vowel, n- changes to ny-, when it starts with a b or v it changes to m-, and *nw-, *nl-, and *nr- becomes mb-, nd-, and nd- respectively. In front of any stems where these rules cannot be applied, it disappears.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Bantu *ǹ-.

Alternative forms

n'-

Prefix

n-

Alternative form of ni-.
- 1973, Mohammed S. Abdulla, Duniani kuna watu, page 5:
  "Na kwa nini n'sirejee," aliuliza mzee.
  "And why wouldn't I go back [to it]?" the old man asked.
- 2022, Timothy Theodosy Chelula, Instagram‎^[2]:
  Kuna siku nlikua na drive huu wimbo ukaenda hewani nkajikuta natokwa machozi 🥲na nsijue wanachoimba .
  One day I was driving, this song went on air, and I found myself in tears 🥲 and I didn't know what they were singing.

Tooro

Alternative forms

(before /β/, /m/, /h/ or /p/) m-
(before a vowel) ny-

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *ǹ-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /n̩-/, (after /ɡ/ or /k/) [ŋ̩-], (after a vowel) /n-/

Prefix

n-

I, 1st person singular subject concord
‎n- + ‎-kora (“to do”) → ‎nkora (“I do”)
positive imperative form of -n- (“me; 1st person singular object concord”)
‎n- + ‎-ha (“to give”) → ‎mpa (“give me”)

References

Kaji, Shigeki (2007) A Rutooro Vocabulary‎^[3], Tokyo: Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), →ISBN, page 413

Ye'kwana

Etymology 1

Cognate to prefixes analyzed as object nominalizers, switching nominalized forms from nouns of action to nouns referring to the patient argument. The Caura River form has a rather different scope of use.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ŋ-]

Prefix

n-

Marks that (person markers on) a derivation from a transitive verb refer to the agent argument of the verb rather than the patient argument; used with verbs adverbialized with -e or nominalized with -dü or -'jüdü.

Usage notes

This prefix comes between the person marker and the verb stem.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

ni- (allomorph before a consonant)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ŋ-]

Prefix

n-

Marks a nonderived transitive verb as having a third-person agent/subject and patient/object.
Marks a nonderived intransitive verb with agent-like or patient-like argument as having a third-person argument/subject.

Usage notes

The form n- is used with stems that start with a vowel; ni- is used with those that start with a consonant, in which case the initial consonant is also palatalized.

This person marker is used with all types of verbs when marked with originally nonderived tense/aspect/mood markers, excepting only the admonitive -'no and prohibitive -i negative command suffixes and the uncertain future marker -tai, which require the transcategorical third person marker y-, and the distant past markers, which require the distance-specific person morpheme kün-.

Though in all other circumstances Ye'kwana third-person prefixes also cover the first person dual exclusive, this prefix is not used when the patient of a transitive verb is first-person-dual-exclusive.

Inflection

Ye'kwana personal markers

	pronoun	noun possessor/ series II verb argument		postposition object		series I verb argument
	pronoun	noun possessor/ series II verb argument		postposition object		transitive patient	intransitive patient-like		intransitive agent-like	transitive agent
first person	ewü	y-, ∅-, ü-, u-¹						w-, wi-
first person dual inclusive	küwü	k-, kü-, ku-, ki-								k-, kii-, ki-¹
second person	amödö	ö-, öy-/ödh-, o-, oy-/odh-, a-, ay-/adh-							m-, mi-
first person dual exclusive	nña	y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-¹			chö-	∅-	n-, ni-
third person	tüwü	y-/dh-, ch-, ∅-, i-¹			chö-	n-, ni-	n-, ni-
distant past third person	tüwü	—				kün-, kun-, kin-, ken-, küm-, kum-, kim-, kini-
coreferential/reflexive	—	t-, tü-, tu-, ti-, te-				—
reciprocal	—	—	öö-
With following vowel lengthened if in an unreduced open syllable.

	series I verb argument: transitive agent and transitive patient
first person > second person	mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni-
first person dual exclusive > second person	mön-, man-, mon-, möm-, möni-
second person > first person	k-, kü-, ku-, ki-
second person > first person dual exclusive	k-, kü-, ku-, ki-
third person > any person X …or… any person X > third person	see person X in the chart above

References

Cáceres, Natalia (2011) “n-”, in Grammaire Fonctionnelle-Typologique du Ye’kwana‎^[4], Lyon, pages 152, 182–184, 190–191, 200, 202–203

Zulu

Etymology

From Proto-Bantu *n-.

Prefix

n-

Class 9 simple noun prefix.

Usage notes

The variant form m- is used before stems beginning with a labial consonant (b, f, m, p, v).

[1] Schumacher, Stefan, Matzinger, Joachim (2013) Die Verben des Altalbanischen: Belegwörterbuch, Vorgeschichte und Etymologie (Albanische Forschungen; 33) (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN

[2] Orel, Vladimir E. (2000) A concise historical grammar of the Albanian language: reconstruction of Proto-Albanian‎^[1], Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 168

[1]

[2]

	stem begins with...	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
consonants	p t k h ch m n s sh w y	ni-	gi-	o-
	d g ' j z zh	nin-
	b	nim-
vowels	o	nindo-	gido-	odo-
	a aa e i	nind-	gid-	od-
	oo	n-	g-	od-
	ii	n-	g-	w-

person	infixed			suffixed
See Appendix:Old Irish affixed pronouns for details on how these forms are used. Note that the so-called “infixed” pronouns are technically prefixes, but they are never the first prefix in a verbal complex.
person	class A	class B	class C	suffixed
1 sg	m-^L	dom-^L, dam-^L		-um
2 sg	t-^L	dot-^L, dat-^L, dut-^L, dit-^L		-ut
3 sg m	a-^N, e-^N	d-^N	id-^N, did-^N, d-^N	-i, -it
3 sg f	s-^(N)	da-		-us
3 sg n	a-^L, e-^L	d-^L	id-^L, did-^L, d-^L	-i, -it
1 pl	n-	don-, dun-, dan-		-unn
2 pl	b-	dob-, dub-, dab-		-uib
3 pl	s-^(N)	da-		-us

	person	independent	subject concord		object concord	combined forms			possessive
	person	independent	affirmative	negative	object concord	na	ndi-	si-	possessive
singular	first	mimi	ni-	si-	-ni-	nami, na mimi	ndimi, ndiye	simi, siye	-angu
	second	wewe	u-	hu-	-ku-	nawe, na wewe	ndiwe, ndiye	siwe, siye	-ako
	third	yeye	a-, yu-	ha-, hayu-	-m-, -mw-, -mu-	naye, na yeye	ndiye	siye	-ake
plural	first	sisi	tu-	hatu-	-tu-	nasi, na sisi	ndisi, ndio	sio	-etu
	second	ninyi	m-, mw-, mu-	ham-, hamw-, hamu-	-wa-	nanyi, na ninyi	ndinyi, ndio	sinyi, sio	-enu
	third	wao	wa-	hawa-	-wa-	nao	ndio	sio	-ao
reflexive		—	—		-ji-	—			—
For a full table including other classes, see Appendix:Swahili personal pronouns.

class	person	independent	possessive	subject concord	object concord	combined forms
class	person	independent	possessive	subject concord	object concord	na	ni
class 1	first	nyowe, nye	-ange	n-	-n-	nanyowe, nanye	ninyowe, ninye
	second	iwe	-awe	o-	-ku-	naiwe	niiwe
	third	uwe	-e	a-	-mu-	nawe	nuwe
class 2	first	itwe	-aitu	tu-	-tu-	naitwe	niitwe
	second	inywe	-anyu	mu-	-ba-	nainywe	niinywe
	third	abo	-abo	ba-	-ba-	nabo	nubo
class 3		gwo	-agwo	gu-	-gu-	nagwo	nugwo
class 4		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
class 5		lyo	-alyo	li-	-li-	nalyo	niryo
class 6		go	-ago	ga-	-ga-	nago	nugo
class 7		kyo	-akyo	ki-	-ki-	nakyo	nikyo
class 8		byo	-abyo	bi-	-bi-	nabyo	nibyo
class 9		yo	-ayo	e-	-gi-	nayo	niyo
class 10		zo	-azo	zi-	-zi-	nazo	nizo
class 11		rwo	-arwo	ru-	-ru-	narwo	nurwo
class 12		ko	-ako	ka-	-ka-	nako	nuko
class 13		two	-atwo	tu-	-tu-	natwo	nutwo
class 14		bwo	-abwo	bu-	-bu-	nabwo	nubwo
class 15		kwo	-akwo	ku-	-ku-	nakwo	nukwo
class 16		ho	-aho	ha-	-ha-	naho	nuho
class 17		(kwo)	N/A	ha- (...-yo)	-ha-	N/A	nukwo
class 18		(mwo)	-amwo	ha- (...-mu)	-ha-	N/A	numwo
reflexive		-enyini, -onyini	—		-e-	—