أنا

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See also: آنا and انا

Arabic

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ʔa.na/
  • IPA(key): /ʔa.naː/ (in pausa)
  • Audio:(file)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *ʾanāku, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ˀanāku, hence also Proto-Berber *ənakkʷ (Kabyle nekk) and Egyptian *ˀanāku (Coptic ⲁⲛⲟⲕ (anok)).

Pronoun

أَنَا (ʔanām or f (enclitic form ـِيَ (-iya) or ـِي () or ـنِي (-nī) or ـنِيَ (-niya))

  1. I (first person singular subject pronoun)
Usage notes

أَنَا (ʔanā) has four enclitic forms which are employed in different contexts and are generally not interchangeable. The enclitic forms ـنِي (-nī) and ـنِيَ (-niya) are attached to verbs, prepositions ending in نْ (n) with no final vowel (e.g., مِنْ (min) and عَنْ (ʕan)), and the sisters of إِنَّ (ʔinna) except لَعَلَّ (laʕalla). The forms ـِي () and ـيَ (-ya) are used elsewhere, but in cases where ـِي () would be preceded by a long vowel, only ـيَ (-ya) is used.

  1. سَاعِدْنِيsāʕidnīhelp me
  2. كِتَابِيkitābīmy book
  3. عَلَيَّʕalayyaon me

See also

Arabic personal pronouns
Isolated nominative pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person أَنَا (ʔanā) نَحْنُ (naḥnu)
2nd person m أَنْتَ (ʔanta) أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā) أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum)
f أَنْتِ (ʔanti) أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna)
3rd person m هُوَ (huwa) هُمَا (humā) هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)1
f هِيَ (hiya) هُنَّ (hunna)
Isolated accusative pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya) إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā)
2nd person m إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka) إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā) إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum)
f إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki) إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna)
3rd person m إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu) إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā) إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum)
f إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā) إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna)
Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)2 ـنَا (-nā)
2nd person m ـكَ (-ka) ـكُمَا (-kumā) ـكُم (-kum)
f ـكِ (-ki) ـكُنَّ (-kunna)
3rd person m ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)3 ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)3 ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)3
f ـهَا (-hā) ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)3
1. هُمْ (hum) becomes هُمُ (humu) before the definite article الـ (al--).
2. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, me) is attached to verbs, but ـِي () or ـيَ (-ya, my) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي () is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي () or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʔinnī)).
3. ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, , or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, , -u, , -aw).

Etymology 2

From أَنَا (ʔanā, I), calque of German Ich, possibly through ego.

Noun

أَنَا (ʔanāf or m

  1. (psychology) ego
Declension

References

  • Wehr, Hans (1979) “أنا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Egyptian Arabic

Pronunciation

Pronoun

أنا ('ánam or f

  1. I

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic أَنَا (ʔanā).

Pronunciation

Pronoun

أنا (ʔanam or f

  1. I (first person singular subject pronoun)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

Pronoun

أنا (ʔana)

  1. (interrogative) which?