[go: up one dir, main page]

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Contraction of and.

Conjunction

edit

'n

  1. Nonstandard spelling of 'n'.
    fish 'n chips
    rock 'n roll
    • 1927, Arthur D[ouglas] Howden Smith, “The Ferryman”, in Commodore Vanderbilt: An Epic of American Achievement, New York, N.Y.: Robert M[edill] McBride & Company, section III, pages 50–51:
      “Might think we was brother 'n sister, to hear ye, Ma! Damn me to glory, don't ye know thar's fust cousins marryin' every week? And no harm come of it.” [] “Oh, son, not in the face of Pa 'n me that love you, whatever you think! We're only tryin' to figger for your own good.”

Etymology 2

edit

Conjunction

edit

'n

  1. Contraction of than.
    • 1865, Mark Twain, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County:
      The feller took the box again, and took another long, particular look, and give it back to Smiley, and says, very deliberate, "Well, I don't see no p'ints about that frog that's any better'n any other frog."
    • 1969, Anne Warner, Susan Clegg and her friend Mrs. Lathrop, page 87:
      She says you may laugh 'f you feel so inclined, but there ain't no such big difference between your leg 'n' a dead rat but what it 'll pay you to mark her words. She says 'f it don't do no more 'n eat the skin off it 'll still be pretty hard for you to lay there without no skin 'n' feel the plaster goin' in more 'n' more.
    • 2010, Arnan Heyden, Daughters of Agendale, page 228:
      What I can give ya is this bit o' knowledge: there be things in this world that no one can explain. There are things bigger 'n mountains, bigger 'n oceans, bigger 'n fields an' night skies filled with stars, bigger 'n kings, or queens…

Etymology 3

edit

Conjunction

edit

'n

  1. (archaic) Contraction of when. (As found in if'n.)

Etymology 4

edit

Noun

edit

'n (plural 'ns)

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of 'un (one, a thing)
    • 2009, Mariella Glenn Hartsfield, Tall Betsy and Dunce Baby: South Georgia Folktales, page 104:
      The other said, "Alright, I'm gonna do it like this: you take this'n, I'll take that'n; you take this'n, I'll take that'n; []
    • 2012, Liza Cody, Musclebound, page 15:
      Which really did turn into a headache when I woke up — a bad'n.

Afrikaans

edit

Etymology

edit

From Dutch een, 'n.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ə/
  • Audio:(file)

Article

edit

'n (indefinite)

  1. (indefinite article) a, an

Usage notes

edit
  • This word is not capitalized at the beginning of a sentence and the following word is capitalized instead.

Asturian

edit

Preposition

edit

'n

  1. (obsolete) Contraction of en.
    Toi viviendo'n Cangues
    I'm living in Cangues

Usage notes

edit

While this contraction still reflects the elision that often occurs in en when it is between a word ending in a vowel and a word beginning in a consonant, this spelling was dropped by the Academy of the Asturian Language in 1990. Thus, the normative spelling of the above example is now Toi viviendo en Cangues.

See also

edit

Bavarian

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Merged unstressed form of an and en or den.

Article

edit

'n m

  1. a (accusative)
  2. the (accusative)
See also
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Unstressed form of eam.

Pronoun

edit

'n

  1. him
  2. it (dative)
See also
edit

Catalan

edit

Pronoun

edit

'n

  1. Contraction of ne.

Usage notes

edit
  • 'n is the reduced (reduïda) form of the pronoun. It is used after verbs ending with a vowel.

Declension

edit

Dutch

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Article

edit

'n

  1. Contraction of een.

Notes

edit

If 'n begins a sentence, the first letter of the following word is capitalised instead.

Franco-Provençal

edit

Determiner

edit

'n

  1. Clipping of un

German

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /n/, /ən/
  • IPA(key): /m/ (often before a labial), /ŋ/ (often before a velar)

Etymology 1

edit

Contraction of ein. Like virtually all traditional German dialects, colloquial standard German distinguishes the indefinite article from the numeral for "one". The specific form 'n has spread from the North southward and is thus of chiefly Low German origin. Most High German dialects use forms without the final -n, such as [ə] or [a], at least for the basic form (i.e. the masculine and neuter nominative). These pronunciations are sometimes heard in colloquial standard German as well, but 'n is clearly the commonest form.

Article

edit

'n

  1. (colloquial) Alternative form of ein (a, an)
  2. (colloquial) Alternative form of einen (a, an)
Declension
edit
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Contraction of denn.

Adverb

edit

'n

  1. (colloquial) short for denn (used for general emphasis)
    Wann wärst'n hier?
    So, when would you be here?

Italian

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Preposition

edit

'n

  1. (literary) Alternative form of in
  2. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of in.

Etymology 2

edit

Article

edit

'n m

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of un.

Numeral

edit

'n m

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of un.

Etymology 3

edit

Adverb

edit

'n

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of non.

Ligurian

edit

Etymology

edit

Apheresis of un (a, an, article).

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ŋ/ (when followed by a consonant)
  • IPA(key): /n/ (when followed by a vowel)

Article

edit

'n m (feminine 'na, 'n')

  1. a, an (male)

Low German

edit

Article

edit

'n

  1. Contraction of den.

Pronoun

edit

'n

  1. Contraction of en.

North Frisian

edit

Pronoun

edit

'n

  1. (Föhr-Amrum, Mooring) Reduced form of ham (him)
  2. (Sylt) Reduced form of höm (him)

See also

edit

Sicilian

edit

Etymology

edit

Apheresis of in, from Latin in.

Pronunciation

edit
  • IPA(key): /ŋ/ (when followed by a consonant)
  • IPA(key): /n/ (when followed by a vowel)

Preposition

edit

'n

  1. in

Welsh

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Particle

edit

'n

  1. Alternative form of yn (used after a vowel).
    Mae hi'n darllen.She is reading.
    Mae hi'n gysglyd.She is sleepy.
    Mae hi'n ferch.She is a girl.

Etymology 2

edit

Contraction of ein (our).

Determiner

edit

'n (triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel)

  1. our (used after vowels).
    Dyna'n harian ni.
    That's our money.

Pronoun

edit

'n (triggers h-prothesis of a following vowel)

  1. us (as the direct object of a verbal noun or verb)
    Mae e yma i'n harfarnu.
    He's here to appraise us.
    Fe'n magwyd yng ngefn gwlad.
    We were brought up (lit. One brought us up) in the countryside.

Usage notes

edit
  • In formal Welsh, the contraction 'n is a valid form of ein found after mostly functional vowel-final words. In colloquial Welsh, ein is often contracted to 'n after almost any vowel-final word.
  • Pronomial 'n (and ein) can occur before any verbal noun. Before verbal, pronomial 'n is found only in formal language after certain vowel-final preverbal particles, such as fe, a, ni, na, oni and pe.

Further reading

edit
  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “'n”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Zealandic

edit

Etymology

edit

An unstressed variety of eên.

Determiner

edit

'n

  1. a (indefinite article)