English

Alternative forms

• -ian, -n

Suffix

-an

1. Of or pertaining to; an adjectival suffix appended to various words, often nouns, to make an adjective form. (Often added to words of Latin origin, but also used with words of other origins. When a word ends in a, -n is used instead.)

   Rome : Roman

2. Appended to nouns to form an agent noun. (When males with a profession are distinguished from females, males are -an, females -(i)enne.)

   comedian, from comedy +‎ -an
   historian, from history +‎ -an

Synonyms

• (adjective-forming suffix): -al, -ar, -ese, -esque, -ic, -id, -ish, -like, -oid, -ous, -y

Translations

See also

Chuukese

Suffix

-an

1. (added to possessive nouns) his, hers, its

Related terms

Cimbrian

Suffix

-an

1. forms the infinitive of verbs

Esperanto

Suffix

-an

1. Obsolete form of -am.

See also

• -a
• -n

Finnish

Suffix

-an

1. (personal) Forms the impersonal indicative present forms of verbs that include back vowels (a, o or u or i or e with a, o or u — compare -än), appended to the infinitive.

   • No changes in verbs that end in one a.

   juosta + -an -> juostaan

   • Verbs ending in -oa the beginning stem is followed by -ta- and then by this.

   sanoa, stem sano- + -ta- + -an -> sanotaan

   • Verbs ending in -aa or -ea the beginning stem is followed by -eta- and then by this.

   laittaa, stem lait- + -eta- + -an -> laitetaan

   paistaa, stem paist- + -eta- + -an -> paistetaan

   laskea, stem lask- + -eta- + -an -> lasketaan

2. (case suffix) A suffix variant for the illative singular, see -Vn.

   laiva boat (word includes back vowels, a — cf. -än) -> + -an = laivaan (on)to a/the boat; (in)to a/the boat

3. (possessive) A variant for the third-person suffix -nsa, see the usage notes below.

Usage notes

• (third-person possessive suffix variant): When the third-person suffix -nsa is appended to non-nominative noun forms that end in a single -a (those that are in singular and plural inessive, elative, adessive, ablative, essive and abessive and plural partitive and singular partitive ending with -ta), the S and A are very often omitted from the suffix and the last A of the case suffix preceding the remaining N is doubled — resulting in this -an. In standard Finnish, both the "full" form and the shortened form are acceptable (cf. -nsä). This same omission takes very often place also in the nominal verb forms used in shortened sentences (see the meanings of -nsa) and in the adverbs requiring this suffix:

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɒn]

Suffix

-an

1. (adverbial suffix) Added to an adjective or numeral to create an adverb.

   pontos ‎(“accurate”) → pontosan ‎(“accurately”)

   hat ‎(“six”) → Hatan mentünk moziba. - Six of us went to the cinema.

   nyolc ‎(“eight”) → Nyolcan vannak a szobában. - There are eight people in the room.

2. (verb suffix) Added to a stem - often an onomatopoeias - to form a verb expressing an instantaneous action.

   kattan ‎(“to click, to make one clicking sound”)

   robban ‎(“to explode”)

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

• (verb suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -an is added to back vowel words

  -en is added to front vowel words

Derived terms

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay -an, from Proto-Malayic *-an, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *-an, from Proto-Austronesian *-an.

Suffix

-an

1. Suffix for collectivity
2. Suffix for similarity
3. Suffix for object
4. Suffix for place
5. Suffix for instrument

   bangun ‎(“to wake up, to get up”) + -an = bangunan ‎(“building”)

Malay

Etymology

From Proto-Malayic *-an, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *-an, from Proto-Austronesian *-an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /an/
• Rhymes: -an

Suffix

-an ‎(Jawi spelling -ان)

1. Suffix for collectivity
2. Suffix for similarity
3. Suffix for object
4. Suffix for place
5. Suffix for instrument

   bangun ‎(“to wake up, to get up”) + -an = bangunan ‎(“building”)

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-aną

Suffix

-an

1. (verbal suffix) used to form the infinitive of most verbs (exceptions are verbs like flēon ‎(“to flee”))

   singan ‎(“to sing”)

   niman ‎(“to take”)

Old Norse

Etymology

Presumably from Proto-Germanic *-ōniz.

Suffix

-an

1. (deverbative suffix) Used to derive nouns from class 2 weak verbs.

   friða ‎(“to pacify”) + ‎-an → ‎friðan ‎(“pacifying”)

   sanna ‎(“to assert, prove”) + ‎-an → ‎sannan ‎(“assertion, confirmation”)

   synja ‎(“to deny”) + ‎-an → ‎synjan ‎(“denial”)

Derived terms

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-aną

Suffix

-an

1. (verbal suffix) used to form the infinitive of strong verbs (exceptions are a few verbs ending in -ian like biddian or liggian)

   drinkan "to drink"

   hwerƀan "to travel"

Romanian

Suffix

-an m, n ‎(feminine singular -ană, masculine plural -ani, feminine and neuter plural -ane)

1. Added to nouns and adjectives as an augmentative suffix.

   gras ‎(“fat”) + ‎-an → ‎grăsan ‎(“fatso”)

2. Forms adjectives and nouns describing things and characteristics of a city, region, or country; -an

   Australia ‎(“Australia”) + ‎-an → ‎australian ‎(“Australian”)

3. Forms names of male animals.

   gâscă ‎(“goose”) + ‎-an → ‎gâscan ‎(“gander”)

Declension

Derived terms

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology 1

From Old Irish -án.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /an/

Suffix

-an m

1. A masculine suffix used to form nouns meaning a smaller form of something, often used for male given names.

   Cailean, Eòghan, Ailean, Beathan

   clàran, clachan, bioran

Etymology 2

Cognate to Irish -anna, Manx -yn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ən/

Suffix

-an pl

1. Used to form regular plurals of nouns.

   clach ‎(“stone”) → clachan pl

   damh ‎(“ox, stag”) → damhan pl

   leannan ‎(“lover, sweetheart”) → leannanan pl

Derived terms

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Suffix

-an ‎(Cyrillic spelling -ан)

1. Suffix appended to words to create a masculine noun, usually denoting a (often negative) feature or endearment.

Etymology 2

From Proto-Slavic *-ьnъ.

Suffix

-an ‎(Cyrillic spelling -ан)

1. Suffix appended to words to create an adjective.

   • jad + -an → jadan ‎(“miserable”)

Derived terms

See also

• -ašan
• -ešan

Spanish

Suffix

-an

1. Suffix indicating the third-person plural present indicative of -ar verbs.
2. Suffix indicating the third-person plural present subjunctive of -er and -ir verbs.
3. Suffix indicating the third-person plural imperative of -er and -ir verbs.

See also

• -en

Swedish

Suffix

-an

1. making a noun from a verb, similar to -ing and -ning, having -ningar as the plural, e.g. predika ‎(“to preach”) → predikan ‎(“a sermon”)
2. -an; making a noun, describing a person by belief or nationality, e.g. Tibet → tibetan, lutheran, vegetarian

Derived terms

Tagalog

Verbal Suffix

-an

1. actor trigger: to do something to a person or a thing

   Buksan mo ang pinto.

   (You) open the door. (You is focused).

2. object trigger: to cause something to become; to make

   Binagalan ni Sue ang kotse.

   Sue slowed down the car. (The car is focused).

3. directional trigger: to do something in the (physical or psychological) direction of

   Tinitingnan ko ang manwal.

   I'm looking at the manual. (The manual is focused).

4. benefactive trigger: to do something for

   Titirhan ko si Roy ng keyk.

   I'll leave some cake for Roy. (Roy is focused).

5. object trigger: (with root word reduplication) to do something occasionally, at random, a little, a bit, now and then or here and there

   Winawalis-walisan; ko ang sahig.

   I'm sweeping the floor a bit. (The floor is focused).

6. directional trigger: (with root word reduplication) to do something in the (physical or psychological) direction of, occasionally, at random, a little, a bit, now and then or here and there

   Tinutulung-tulungan ni Jessy si Patty.

   Jessy helped Patty a bit. (Patty is focused).

Noun Suffix

-an

1. a place where a large quantity of the thing meant by the root is put, planted, or can be found

   aklat (book) + -an = aklatan (library)

   basura (trash) + -an = basurahan (trash can)

2. a place where the action expressed by the root is performed

   kain (eat) + -an = kainan (place where people eat e.g. restaurant, café,...)

3. a period in which the action expressed by the root is collectively performed

   ani (harvest) + -an = anihan (harvest time)

   pasok (entry, class, work) + -an = pasukan (school time, school year)

4. a tool or an object that is used to measure what is meant by the root

   oras (time) + -an = orasan (clock, watch)

   timbang (weight) + -an = timbangan (weighing scale)

5. reciprocal or joint performance of the action expressed by the root

   sayaw (dance) + -an = sayawan (dancing together)

   kanta (sing) + -an = kantahan (singing together)

Note on morphophonemics

• Normally, /h/ is inserted before -an when the root word end with a vowel that is not followed by a glottal stop. In some cases, phoneme change can occur and /h/ becomes /n/.

  ganti + -an = gantihan

  talo + -an = talunan

• Sometimes, the final vowel of the root word disappears when the suffix is added.

  sunod + -an = sundan

  takip + -an = takpan

Derived terms

Volapük

Suffix

-an

1. Used to indicate someone who is or does something

Derived terms