־ן

See also: ן, ן׳, and נ

Hebrew

Alternative forms

• ־תן (after some words ending with ־ה/־ת)

Etymology

Cognate with Arabic ـَان (-ān). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.).

Suffix

־ָן • (-án)

1. -er: forming nouns denoting one with a certain characteristic.
   1. With the characteristic being a behavior or personality trait.

      מציקן ― m'tsikán ― a bully

      מעתיקן ― ma'atikán ― a copycat

      לאומן ― l'umán ― an ultranationalist

   2. With the characteristic being a discriminator.

      גזען ― giz'án ― a racist

      גילן ― gilán ― an ageist

   3. With the characteristic being a profession or other activity.

      פרוון ― parván ― a furrier

      יהלומן ― yahalomán ― a diamantaire

      משפיען ― mashpián ― a [social media] influencer

   4. With the characteristic being something else.

      צבען ― tsiv'án ― a pigment

      תיקן ― tikán ― a cockroach

2. -ium: forming names of chemical elements.

   צורן ― tsorán ― silicon

   סידן ― sidán ― calcium

Derived terms

Derived terms: one with a certain behavior or personality trait.

• דאגן (da'agán, “a worry wart”)
• מציקן (m'thikán, “a bully”)

Derived terms: one discriminates by a certain characteristic.

• גזען (giz'án, “a racist”)
• גילן (gilán, “a ableist”)
• סוגן (sugán, “a specieist”)

Derived terms: one with a certain profession or other activity.

• דַּגְלָן (daglán, “a flag-bearer”)
• יחצן (yakhtsán, “a publicist”)
• כדורגלן (kaduraglán, “a football (soccer) player”)
• כדורסלן (kadursalán, “a basketball player”)
• ליצן (leitsán, “a clown”)
• מדען (mad'án, “a scientist”)
• סַפְרָן (safrán, “a librarian”)

Derived terms: one with a certain other characteristic.

• צבען (tsiv'án, “a pigment”)
• תיקן (tikán, “a cockroach”)

Derived terms: a chemical element.

• אשלגן (ashlagán, “potassium”)
• סידן (sidán, “calcium”)
• פחמן (pakhmán, “carbon”)
• צורן (tsorán, “silicon”)

Mozarabic

Etymology

From Latin inde (“thence”). Compare French en (adverb, pronoun) and Italian ne (adverb, pronoun).

Pronoun

־ן (transliteration needed)

1. of that, of him, of her
   • c. 1100, Kharja H24 :

     תן שבדיד ונארי

     tn šbdyd wn'ry

     I'll know how to give you some of it

Notes

Corriente takes ⟨n⟩ to represent a Mozarabic en. His translation also depends on interpreting ⟨šbdy⟩ as a textual corruption for *⟨šbry⟩, hence Mozarabic *šabréy 'I will know [how]'.

Yiddish

Etymology 1

From Middle High German -en, a merger of various terminations in Old High German reflecting different conjugational patterns, namely -an, -ien, -on, -en, and -non, respectively from Proto-Germanic *-aną, *-janą, *-ōną, *-āną, and *-naną.

Alternative forms

• (often used with Slavic borrowings) ־ען (-en)

Suffix

־ן • (-n)

1. The infinitive marker for verbs, which can be appended to a noun or adjective that means X to create a verb that means "to make X" or "to do X"

Derived terms

• ־עווען (-even)

Yiddish terms suffixed with ־ן

Etymology 2

Compare German -en, Dutch -en.

Suffix

־ן • (-n)

1. A plural marker for regular nouns not ending in an unstressed ־ר (-r), ־ם (-m), ־ן (-n), or a vowel.

See also

• ־ס (-s)

Etymology 3

A merger of the nasal inflectional endings of nouns and adjectives of Middle High German: -en, -em.

Suffix

־ן • (-n)

1. Used to indicate the dative and accusative in the masculine form of adjectives and masculine declined nouns, and the dative in the neuter form of adjectives and feminine declined nouns.

Etymology 4

From Hebrew ־ָן (-án).

Suffix

־ן • (-n) m, plural ־נים (-onem)

1. Used to form nouns denoting people of a certain profession or who perform certain habitual actions.

Etymology 5

Suffix

־ן • (-n)

1. Regular termination of the first-person plural present indicative form of verbs.
2. Regular termination of the third-person plural present indicative form of verbs.