Wiktionary

'n

See also: ʼn and Appendix:Variations of "n"

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Contraction of and.

Conjunction

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'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

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Conjunction

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'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

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Conjunction

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'n

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

Etymology 4

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Noun

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'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

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Etymology

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From Dutch een, 'n.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ə/
  • Audio:(file)

Article

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'n (indefinite)

  1. (indefinite article) a, an

Usage notes

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

Asturian

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Preposition

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'n

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

Usage notes

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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

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Bavarian

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Etymology 1

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Merged unstressed form of an and en or den.

Article

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'n m

  1. a (accusative)
  2. the (accusative)
See also
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Bavarian articles
m n f pl
stressed unstressed stressed unstressed stressed unstressed stressed unstressed
definite nominative der, da — das, es, des 's de d' de d'
accusative en, den 'n
dative em, dem 'm em, dem 'm der, da —
genitive1 des des der, da der, da
indefinite nominative a — a — a —
accusative an 'n
dative am 'm am 'm a, ana 'na
1) higher, formal register

Etymology 2

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Unstressed form of eam.

Pronoun

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'n

  1. him
  2. it (dative)
See also
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Bavarian personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative
stressed unstressed stressed unstressed stressed unstressed
1st person singular i — mi — mia (mir) ma
2nd person singular
(informal) 		du — di — dia (dir) da
2nd person singular
(formal) 		Sie — Eahna — Eahna —
3rd person singular m er a eahm 'n eahm 'n
n es, des 's des 's
f se, de 's se 's ihr —
1st person plural mia (mir) ma uns — uns —
2nd person plural eß, ihr — enk, eich — enk, eich —
3rd person plural se 's eahna — eahna —

Catalan

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Pronoun

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'n

  1. Contraction of ne.

Usage notes

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

Declension

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Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Article

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'n

  1. Contraction of een.

Notes

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

Franco-Provençal

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Determiner

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'n

  1. Clipping of un

German

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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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

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'n

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

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Contraction of denn.

Adverb

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'n

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

Italian

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Etymology 1

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Preposition

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'n

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

Etymology 2

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Article

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'n m

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of un.

Numeral

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'n m

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of un.

Etymology 3

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Adverb

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'n

  1. (colloquial) Pronunciation spelling of non.

Ligurian

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Etymology

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Apheresis of un (“a, an”, article).

Pronunciation

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

Article

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'n m (feminine 'na, 'n')

  1. a, an (male)

Low German

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Article

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'n

  1. Contraction of den.

Pronoun

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'n

  1. Contraction of en.

North Frisian

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Pronoun

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'n

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

See also

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Personal and possessive pronouns (Föhr-Amrum dialect)
personal possessive
subject case object case masculine referent feminine / neuter referent plural referent
full reduced full reduced attributive independent
singular 1st ik 'k mi man min minen
2nd dü – di dan din dinen
3rd m. hi 'r ham 'n san sin sinen
3rd f. / n. hat at, 't at, 't
plural 1st wi 'f üs üüs üüsen
üsens
2nd jam 'm jam jau jauen
jamens
3rd jo 's jo 's hör hören
hörens
notes The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts. At is not enclitic; it can stand in any unstressed position and refers mostly to things. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
Dual forms wat / onk and jat / jonk are obsolete, as is feminine jü / hör.
Independent possessives are distinguished from attributive ones only with plural referents. The forms üsens, jamens, hörens are used optionally (and decreasingly) when the possessor is a larger community, such as a village, city or nation.
Personal and possessive pronouns (Mooring dialect)
personal possessive
subject case object case masculine
referent 		feminine / neuter / plural
referent
full reduced full reduced
singular 1st ik 'k me man min
2nd dü – de dan din
3rd m. hi 'r ham 'n san sin
3rd f. jü 's har 's harn har
3rd n. hat et, 't ham et, 't san sin
plural 1st we üs üüsen üüs
2nd jam 'm jam jarnge
3rd ja 's ja, jam 's jare
notes The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts. Et is not enclitic and can stand in any unstressed position; the full subject form hat is now rarely used. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
Dual forms wat / unk and jat / junk are obsolete. Attributive and independent possessives are not distinguished in Mooring.
Personal and possessive pronouns (Sylt dialect)
personal possessive
subject case object case singular
referent 		plural referent
full reduced full reduced attributive independent
singular 1st ik 'k mi min minen
2nd dü – di din dinen
3rd m. hi 'r höm 'n sin sinen
3rd f. jü 's höör 's höör höören
3rd n. hat et, 't höm et, 't sin sinen
dual 1st wat unk unken
2nd at junk junken
3rd jat jam 's jaar jaaren
plural 1st wü üüs üüsen
2nd i juu juuen
3rd ja 's jam 's jaar jaaren
notes The reduced forms with an apostrophe are enclitic; they immediately follow verbs or conjunctions. Dü is deleted altogether in such contexts. Et is not enclitic and can stand in any unstressed position; the full subject form hat is now rarely used. In reflexive use, only full object forms occur.
The dual forms are dated, but not obsolete as in other dialects.
Independent possessives are distinguished from attributive ones only with plural referents.

Sicilian

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Etymology

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Apheresis of in, from Latin in.

Pronunciation

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

Preposition

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'n

  1. in

Welsh

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Particle

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'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

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Contraction of ein (“our”).

Determiner

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

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

Pronoun

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'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

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  • 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

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  • 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

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Etymology

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An unstressed variety of eên.

Determiner

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'n

  1. a (indefinite article)
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