Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-aną
Proto-Germanic
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *-onom, from *-o- (thematic vowel) + *-nom (verbal noun suffix) (compare Latin -num and Sanskrit -नम् (-nam)). The few remaining athematic verbs (which were irregular in Proto-Germanic) accordingly used only *-ną. Cognate with Sanskrit -अन (-ana).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɑ.nɑ̃/
Verb
*-aną
- The infinitive suffix of strong verbs and preterite-present verbs
Usage notes
This suffix was not productive in Proto-Germanic.
Inflection
- Strong verbs consist of four principal parts: the present stem (1), the past singular stem (2), the general past stem (3) and the past participle (4). The seven classes of strong verb differ only in how their principal parts are formed.
| active voice | passive voice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | indicative | subjunctive | imperative | indicative | subjunctive | |
| 1st singular | *1-ō | *1-aų | — | *1-ai | ? | |
| 2nd singular | *1-izi | *1-aiz | *1- | *1-azai | *1-aizau | |
| 3rd singular | *1-idi | *1-ai | *1-adau | *1-adai | *1-aidau | |
| 1st dual | *1-ōz | *1-aiw | — | — | — | |
| 2nd dual | *1-adiz | *1-aidiz | *1-adiz | — | — | |
| 1st plural | *1-amaz | *1-aim | — | *1-andai | *1-aindau | |
| 2nd plural | *1-id | *1-aid | *1-id | *1-andai | *1-aindau | |
| 3rd plural | *1-andi | *1-ain | *1-andau | *1-andai | *1-aindau | |
| past tense | indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| 1st singular | *2- | *3-į̄ | ||||
| 2nd singular | *2-t | *3-īz | ||||
| 3rd singular | *2- | *3-ī | ||||
| 1st dual | *3-ū | *3-īw | ||||
| 2nd dual | *3-udiz | *3-īdiz | ||||
| 1st plural | *3-um | *3-īm | ||||
| 2nd plural | *3-ud | *3-īd | ||||
| 3rd plural | *3-un | *3-īn | ||||
| present | past | |||||
| participles | *1-andz | *4-anaz | ||||
- Preterite-present verbs consist of three principal parts: the present singular stem (2), the general present stem (3), and the past stem (3a).
| active voice | passive voice | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present tense | indicative | subjunctive | imperative | indicative | subjunctive | |
| 1st singular | *2- | *3-į̄ | — | — | — | |
| 2nd singular | *2-t | *3-īz | — | — | — | |
| 3rd singular | *2- | *3-ī | — | — | — | |
| 1st dual | *3-ū | *3-īw | — | — | — | |
| 2nd dual | *3-udiz | *3-īdiz | — | — | — | |
| 1st plural | *3-um | *3-īm | — | — | — | |
| 2nd plural | *3-ud | *3-īd | — | — | — | |
| 3rd plural | *3-un | *3-īn | — | — | — | |
| past tense | indicative | subjunctive | ||||
| 1st singular | *3a-ǭ | *3a-ēdį̄ | ||||
| 2nd singular | *3a-ēz | *3a-ēdīz | ||||
| 3rd singular | *3a-ē | *3a-ēdī | ||||
| 1st dual | *3a-ēdū | *3a-ēdīw | ||||
| 2nd dual | *3a-ēdudiz | *3a-ēdīdiz | ||||
| 1st plural | *3a-ēdum | *3a-ēdīm | ||||
| 2nd plural | *3a-ēdud | *3a-ēdīd | ||||
| 3rd plural | *3a-ēdun | *3a-ēdīn | ||||
| present | past | |||||
| participles | *3-andz | *3a-az | ||||
Derived terms
Proto-Germanic strong verbs
Proto-Germanic preterite-present verbs
Related terms
Descendants
- Proto-West Germanic: *-an
- Old Norse: -a
- Gothic: -𐌰𐌽 (-an)
References
- Fulk, R.D. (2018). A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 252–253; 284–285.