-em

See also: Appendix:Variations of "em"

Albanian

Alternative forms

• -hna — Gheg
• -hëm — dialectal, Gheg
• -nem — dialectal, Tosk

Etymology

Related to më, mu, mua (“me”) and im (“my, mine”). -em is the Tosk and Standard Albanian variant of the Gheg personal suffix -na (“I, me”). The suffix -em (“I, me”) indicates the 1st person singular, mediopassive, present (same as Gheg -na). Used the same way as Greek verb suffix "-μαι/-mai" (also 1st pers., sg., mediopassive, indicative, present).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /em/, [ɛm]

Suffix

-em

1. (personal suffix) used to form the 1st person singular present tense of verbs in mediopassive voice (indicative mood).
2. Forms verbs in mediopassive voice from active voice

   active bëj (“I do, make, appear”) + h (mediopassive marker) + -em → mediopassive bëhem (“I become, turn into”)

   active zbeh (“I make white(er), pale(er)”) + -em → mediopassive zbehem (“I'm getting pale(er), white(er)”)

3. Forms mediopassive verbs from adjectives

   adjective shkurt (“short”) + o-stem + h (mediopassive marker) + -em → mediopassive verb shkurtohem (“I become shorter”)

• Standard Albanian/Tosk personal suffixes for verbs:

mediopassive personal suffixes (1st person singular)
	indicative	subjunctive	conditional	optative	admirative
	(dëftore)	(lidhore)	(kushtore)	(dëshirore)	(habitore)
present	-em	(të) -em	(do të) -esha	(u) -sha / -fsha	(u) -am
continuous present	(po) -em	(po të) -em	(po do të) -esha		(po u) -am
imperfect	-esha	(të) -esha			(u) -ësha
continuous imperfect	(po) -esha	(po të) -esha			(po u) -ësha
aorist	(u) -a / (u) -va	-	-	-	-
perfect	j-am (+ participle)	(të) j-em (+ participle)		qof-sha (+ participle)	qenk-am (+ participle)
past perfect I	isha (+ participle)	(të) isha (+ participle)	(do të) isha (+ participle)		qenk-ësha (+ participle)
past perfect II (aorist II)	q-eshë (+ participle)
future I	k-am (për t'u + participle)		(do të) -em
future perfect	k-am (për të qenë + participle)		(do të) j-em (+ participle)

Related terms

• -hem
• -hna
• -na

Bislama

Alternative forms

• -im, -um, -m, -rem (see usage notes below)
• -e (colloquial, before an object)

Etymology

From English him / 'em (“them”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /-em/

Suffix

-em

1. Marks a transitive verb

   Bae yumitu rus. ― You and I will roast [food]. → Bae yumitu rusum taro. ― You and I will roast taro.

   Mami blong mi i stap stil oltaem. ― My mum is always stealing. → Mami blong mi i stilim mane blong mi oltaem. ― My mum is always stealing my money.

   • 2008, Miriam Meyerhoff, “7.3 Method”, in Social Lives in Language — Sociolinguistics and Multilingual Speech Communities: Celebrating the Work of Gillian Sankoff‎^[1], →ISBN, page 344:

     Bang i wantem mi faen from mi ovaspen.

     The bank wants me [= object] to pay a fine because I am in overdraft.

Usage notes

The form of the transitive suffix is primarily determined by vowel height harmony, along with additional phonological rules:

• -em — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by non-close vowels vowels a, e, o or diphthongs ending in these vowels (ae, oe, ao): ‎melek (“milk, to milk”) + ‎-em → ‎melekem (“to milk (something)”), ‎bon (“to burn”) + ‎-em → ‎bonem (“to burn (something)”)
  • Vowel o or diphthong ao: ‎dro (“to draw”) + ‎-em → ‎droem (“to draw (something)”)
• -im — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by close vowel i: ‎rid (“to read”) + ‎-im → ‎ridim (“to read (something)”), ‎stil (“to steal”) + ‎-im → ‎stilim (“to steal (something)”)
  • Vowel u: ‎skru (“screw, to screw”) + ‎-im → ‎skruim (“to screw (something)”)
  • Irregularly after luk (“to see, to look at”) (expected *lukum): ‎luk (“to see”) + ‎-im → ‎lukim (“to see (something)”)
• -um — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by vowel u: ‎kuk (“to cook”) + ‎-um → ‎kukum (“to cook (something)”), ‎rus (“roast, to roast”) + ‎-um → ‎rusum (“to roast (something)”)
• -m — used after:
  • Vowels i, e or diphthongs ending in e (ae, oe), implied that the vowel of the underlying -im suffix is deleted: ‎pe (“to pay”) + ‎-m → ‎pem (“to pay (to someone)”), ‎drae (“to dry”) + ‎-m → ‎draem (“to dry (something)”)
• -rem — used after:
  • Consonant + a or diphthong ua: ‎hama (“hammer, to hammer”) + ‎-rem → ‎hamarem (“to hammer (something)”), ‎ansa (“answer, to answer”) + ‎-rem → ‎ansarem (“to answer (something or someone)”)
  • Diphthongs ea or oa (root-final -a- may optionally drop): ‎pripea (“to prepare”) + ‎-rem → ‎priperem or ‎pripearem (“to prepare (something)”)
  • Diphthong ia (varies with -rim with root-final -a- also dropping): ‎klia (“clear, to clear”) + ‎-rem or ‎-rim → ‎kliarem or ‎klirim (“to clear (something)”)

These special cases also occur:

• Some verbs lack an independent unsuffixed form and only exist with the transitive suffix: karem (“to carry”), talem (“to tell”), putum (“to put”), harem (“to hear”).
• A small set of verbs are inherently transitive but never take the suffix: kakae (“to eat”), save (“to know”), lego (“to leave”), tingbaot (“to think about”), tokbaot (“to talk about”), gat (“to have, got”), se (“to say”), somap (“to sew”), klaemap (“to climb”).
• French loanwords ending in vowels also do not take the suffix: rato (“to rake”) (from French râteau) does not become *ratoem. However, French loanwords ending in consonants do take the suffix: ‎glis (“to slip, to slide”, from French glisser) → ‎glisim (“to catch side on (somewhere)”)
• Some verbs optionally appear with or without the suffix in transitive use: dring ~ dringim (“drink”), luk ~ lukim (“to see”), swim ~ swimim (“to swim, to bathe”).
• Root-final -f (from English /v/) often changes to -v- before the suffix: ‎bilif (“to believe”) → ‎bilivim (“to believe (something)”), ‎muf (“to move”) → ‎muvum (“to move (something)”), ‎pruf (“proof, to prove”) → ‎pruvum (“to prove (something)”). However, f from English /f/ remains unchanged: ‎of (“off”) → ‎ofem (“to turn off (something)”).
• In rapid colloquial speech (especially among younger speakers), final -m may drop before an object: Mi no boele ti blong yu (“I haven't boiled your tea”).

References

• Crowley, Terry (2003), A New Bislama Dictionary, 2nd edition, Suva, Fiji: Institute of Pacific Studies, →ISBN, page 23
• Crowley, Terry (2004), Bislama Reference Grammar, Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaiʻi Press, →ISBN, pages 77–81

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin -ēmus, the active ending for the first person plural in the Latin second conjugation. The final *-us was lost due to analogy with the Latin second declension (which also ended in -us); had that not been lost, the result would have been *-emos or *-emes. Displaced -āmus, the active ending of the first person plural, which likely would have yielded *-amos or *-ames (or *-am, with loss of the final *-us).

Suffix

-em

1. Used to form the first person plural present indicative of first and second conjugation verbs

Chuukese

Suffix

-em

1. (added to possessive nouns) our (exclusive)

Related terms

Chuukese possessive determiners

		small objects, concepts	large objects, living things	suffix
singular	first person	ai	nei	-ei
	second person	omw, om	noum	-om
	third person	an	noun	-an
plural	first person	äm (exclusive) ach (inclusive)	nöu̇m (exclusive) nöüch (inclusive)	-em (exclusive) -ach (inclusive)
	second person	ämi, ami	noumi	-emi
	third person	ar	nour	-er

Etruscan

Romanization

-em

1. romanization of -𐌄𐌌

German

Etymology 1

From Middle High German -em, -eme, from Proto-West Germanic *-umē.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əm/

Suffix

-em

1. masculine and neuter dative suffix, used in most determiners/pronouns and in strong adjectives

Etymology 2

Through reduction of the unstressed syllable.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əm/, /ɛm/
• Most or all places are locally pronounced with /əm/, but /ɛm/ is not rarely heard from outsiders.

Suffix

-em

1. alternative form of -heim (placename suffix)

Derived terms

• Ahlem
• Ahrem
• Baasem
• Bachem
• Badem
• Blessem
• Bockenem
• Bredelem
• Broitzem
• Cochem
• Dahlem
• Deesem
• Detzem
• Eulgem
• Fließem
• Gilzem
• Horrem
• Kanzem
• Katzem
• Ließem
• Luxem
• Mehlem
• Niederaussem
• Pickließem
• Rethem
• Sehlem
• Spangdahlem
• Stedem
• Stockem
• Uedem
• Wehdem
• Wierschem

See also

• Sechtem

Etymology 3

Ultimately a backformation from Ancient Greek φώνημα (phṓnēma), whence German Phonem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Suffix

-em n

1. (linguistics) -eme

Derived terms

German terms suffixed with -em

Derivatem

Glossem

Graphem

Morphem

Phrasem

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛm]
• Rhymes: -ɛm

Etymology 1

Suffix

-em

2. (personal suffix, indefinite conjugation) Forms the first-person singular present indicative of -ik verbs.

   ‎eszik (“to eat”) + ‎-em → ‎eszem (“I eat, I am eating”)

4. (personal suffix, definite conjugation) Forms the definite first-person singular present indicative of verbs.

   ‎ért (“to understand”) + ‎-em → ‎értem (“I understand [him/her/it]”)

6. (possessive suffix) my (first-person singular, single possession)

   ‎kert (“garden”) + ‎-em → ‎kertem (“my garden”)

Usage notes

    Present tense indefinite – personal suffixes

Person		Back     vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-ok	-ek	-ök
	-ik verbs (optional)	-om	-em	-öm
te	2nd person singular	-sz
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-asz	-esz
	after s, sz, z, dz	-ol	-el	-öl
ő maga ön	3rd person singular	–
	-ik verbs	-ik
mi	1st person plural	-unk	-ünk
ti	2nd person plural	-tok	-tek	-tök
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-otok	-etek	-ötök
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural	-nak	-nek
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anak	-enek
See also: present-tense definite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

• (personal suffix) Variants:

  -ok is added to back-vowel verbs

  -ek is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs

  -ök is added to rounded front-vowel verbs

  -om may be added to back-vowel -ik verbs

  -em may be added to unrounded front-vowel -ik verbs

  -öm may be added to rounded front-vowel -ik verbs

    Present tense definite – personal endings

Person		Back vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-om	-em	-öm
te	2nd person singular	-od	-ed	-öd
ő maga ön	3rd person singular or formal 2nd person singular	-ja	-i
mi	1st person plural	-juk	-jük
ti	2nd person plural	-játok	-itek
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural or formal 2nd person plural	-ják	-ik
See also: present-tense indefinite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

• (personal suffix, definite conjugation) Variants:

  -om is added to back-vowel verbs

  -em is added to unrounded front-vowel verbs

  -öm is added to rounded front-vowel verbs

• (possessive suffix) Variants:

  -m is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  ‎hajó (“boat”) + ‎-m → ‎a hajóm (“my boat”)

  ‎kocsi (“car”) + ‎-m → ‎a kocsim (“my car”)

  ‎palota (“palace”) + ‎-m → ‎a palotám (“my palace”)

  ‎érme (“coin”) + ‎-m → ‎az érmém (“my coin”)

  -am is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  ‎ház (“house”) + ‎-am → ‎a házam (“my house”)

  -om is added to the other back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  ‎kor (“age”) + ‎-om → ‎a korom (“my age”)

  -em is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  ‎kert (“garden”) + ‎-em → ‎a kertem (“my garden”)

  ‎fül (“ear”) + ‎-em → ‎a fülem (“my ear”)

  -öm is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  ‎öröm (“joy”) + ‎-öm → ‎az örömöm (“my joy”)

Declension

(possessive suffix):

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	-em	—
accusative	-emet	—
dative	-emnek	—
instrumental	-emmel	—
causal-final	-emért	—
translative	-emmé	—
terminative	-emig	—
essive-formal	-emként	—
essive-modal	-emül	—
inessive	-emben	—
superessive	-emen	—
adessive	-emnél	—
illative	-embe	—
sublative	-emre	—
allative	-emhez	—
elative	-emből	—
delative	-emről	—
ablative	-emtől	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	-emé	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	-eméi	—

Etymology 2

Suffix

-em

2. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a noun or a verb to form a noun. A final single -l may become long -ll-.

   ‎jel (“sign”) + ‎-em → ‎jellem (“character”)

   ‎szél (“wind”) + ‎-em → ‎szellem (“ghost, spirit”)

   ‎illik (“to suit, to be proper”) + ‎-em → ‎illem (“good manners, proper behaviour”)

Usage notes

• (noun-forming suffix) Variants:

  -am is added to back-vowel words

  -em is added to front-vowel words

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	-em	-emek
accusative	-emet	-emeket
dative	-emnek	-emeknek
instrumental	-emmel	-emekkel
causal-final	-emért	-emekért
translative	-emmé	-emekké
terminative	-emig	-emekig
essive-formal	-emként	-emekként
essive-modal	-emül	-emekül
inessive	-emben	-emekben
superessive	-emen	-emeken
adessive	-emnél	-emeknél
illative	-embe	-emekbe
sublative	-emre	-emekre
allative	-emhez	-emekhez
elative	-emből	-emekből
delative	-emről	-emekről
ablative	-emtől	-emektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	-emé	-emeké
non-attributive possessive – plural	-eméi	-emekéi

Possessive forms of -em

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	-emem	-emeim
2nd person sing.	-emed	-emeid
3rd person sing.	-eme	-emei
1st person plural	-emünk	-emeink
2nd person plural	-emetek	-emeitek
3rd person plural	-emük	-emeik

Derived terms

Hungarian nouns suffixed with -em

érem

illem

jellem

szellem

ütem

üzem

See also

• Category:Hungarian verb forms
• Category:Hungarian noun forms
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

Latin

Alternative forms

• -ẽ (scribal abbreviation)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ẽː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [em]
• Hyphenation: -em

Etymology 1

See -ēs (“suffix forming third-declension feminine abstract nouns”).

Suffix

-em f

1. accusative singular of -ēs

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Suffix

-em

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of -ō (first conjugation)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Suffix

-em

1. accusative singular of -s

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əβ̃/, [eβ̃]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *-mū, from Proto-Indo-European *-mō.

Suffix

-em m

1. Forms occupational nouns.

   ‎flaith (“rule”) + ‎-em → ‎flaithem (“ruler”)

   ‎breth (“judgement”) + ‎-em → ‎brithem (“judge”)

   ‎fíach (“debt”) + ‎-em → ‎féchem (“debtor”)

Inflection

Masculine n-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	-em	-emainL	-emain
vocative	-em	-emainL	-emnaH
accusative	-emainN	-emainL	-emnaH
genitive	-eman	-emanL	-emanN
dative	-emainL, -emL	-emnaib	-emnaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Alternative forms

• -am (broad form)

Derived terms

Old Irish terms suffixed with -em (occupational)

brithem

etham

féchem

flaithem

glaídem

luam

ollam

Etymology 2

From Proto-Celtic *-īmā, a verbal noun suffix for -ī- verbs in Celtic. Cognate with Welsh -i, from Proto-Brythonic *-iβ̃.

Suffix

-em f

1. Forms verbal nouns of class A II weak verbs with roots ending in dentals.

   ‎feithid (“to watch over”) + ‎-em → ‎fethem (“watching over”)

   ‎moídid (“to boast”) + ‎-em → ‎moídem (“boasting”)

   ‎ad·gládathar (“to converse with”) + ‎-em → ‎acaldam (“conversation”)

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	-emL	—	—
vocative	-emL	—	—
accusative	-imN	—	—
genitive	-meH	—	—
dative	-imL	—	—

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Alternative forms

• -am (after a broad consonant)

Derived terms

Old Irish terms suffixed with -em (verbnoun)

acaldam

airégem

caithem

creitem

éigem

moídem

seichem

Descendants

• Irish: -amh
• Scottish Gaelic: -amh

Etymology 3

From Proto-Celtic *-isamos, from Proto-Indo-European *-is-m̥mos.

Alternative forms

• -am (after a consonant or consonant cluster that resists palatalization)

Suffix

-em

1. forms the superlative degree of adjectives

   ‎cóem (“lovely”) + ‎-em → ‎coímem (“loveliest”)

   ‎follus (“clear”) + ‎-em → ‎faillsem (“clearest”)

Derived terms

• -imem

Pijin

Alternative forms

• -im, -um, -m, -rem (see usage notes below)

Etymology

From English him / 'em (“them”).

Suffix

-em

1. Marks a transitive verb

   Olketa kuk. ― They cook [food]. → Olketa kukum raes ia. ― They cook that rice.

   Hemi sut. ― S/he shoots. → Hemi sutim dok blong hem. ― S/he shoots his/her dog.

Usage notes

The form of the transitive suffix is primarily determined by vowel height harmony, along with additional phonological rules:

• -em — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by non-close vowels a, e, o or diphthongs ao, ae: ‎draon (“to drown”) + ‎-em → ‎draonem (“to drown (something)”), ‎gad (“to guard”) + ‎-em → ‎gadem (“to guard (something)”), ‎mek (“to make”) + ‎-em → ‎mekem (“to make (something)”), ‎laek (“to like”) + ‎-em → ‎laekem (“to like (something)”)
  • Optionally after root-final non-close vowels a and o: ‎falo (“to follow”) + ‎-em → ‎faloem (“to follow (something or someone)”) (alongside falom)
• -im — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by close vowel i: ‎bild (“to build”) + ‎-im → ‎bildim (“to build (something)”), ‎dig (“to dig”) + ‎-im → ‎digim (“to dig (something)”), ‎lift (“to lift”) + ‎-im → ‎liftim (“to lift (something)”)
  • Consonants preceded by u when not preceded by a bilabial consonant or h: ‎sut (“to shoot”) + ‎-im → ‎sutim (“to shoot (something)”)
  • Irregularly after du (“to do”) (expected *dum; see below): ‎du (“to do”) + ‎-im → ‎duim (“to do (something)”)
• -um — used after:
  • Consonants preceded by u when the consonant before the vowel is bilabial or h: ‎huk (“hook, to hook”) + ‎-um → ‎hukum (“to hook (something)”), ‎muv (“to move”) + ‎-um → ‎muvum (“to move (something)”)
• -m — used after:
  • Root-final vowels (the vowel of the underlying -im suffix is deleted): ‎ansa (“answer, to answer”) + ‎-m → ‎ansam (“to answer (something)”), ‎daeva (“to dive”) + ‎-m → ‎daevam (“to dive (for something)”), ‎falo (“to follow”) + ‎-m → ‎falom (“to follow (someone/something)”), ‎nila (“nail, to nail”) + ‎-m → ‎nilam (“to nail (something)”)
• -rem — optionally used after:
  • Roots where the English source word ends in /-ɹ/ (standing for a rhotic vowel where the -r was dropped in the root): ‎ansa (“answer, to answer”) + ‎-rem → ‎ansarem (“to answer (something or someone)”) (alongside ansam)

These special cases also occur:

• Some transitive verbs have bound roots that do not occur independently: talem (“to tell”), baem (“to buy”), bitim (“to beat (e.g., a drum)”).
• About 180 verbs are obligatorily intransitive and cannot take the transitive suffix: mekful (“to humiliate”) (not *mekfulum), stanbae (“ready”) (not *stanbaem).
• A few verbs are unmarked transitives that can take objects without the suffix (though this is very rare): kaikai (“to eat”), save (“to know”), torowe (“to throw away”).
• Unlike Bislama, verbs like singaot (“to call”) and luk (“to look”) are strictly intransitive in Pijin and require the transitive suffix to take an object.

References

• Beimers, Gerry David with Siegel, Jeffrey Alan (April 2008), Pijin: A Grammar of Solomon Islands Pidgin‎^[2], Armidale, NSW: University of New England, published 2009, pages 106–7, 113–8
• Jourdan, Christine with Maebiru, Ellen (2002), “-em”, in Pijin: A trilingual cultural dictionary (Pacific Linguistics; 526), Canberra, ACT: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, →ISBN, page 42

Polish

Alternative forms

• -iem (after k and g in declension types: masculine III; neuter II)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Slavic *-emь

Proto-Slavic *-ъ̀mь

Proto-Slavic *-ь̀mь

Old Polish -em

Polish -em

Inherited from Old Polish -em, from Proto-Slavic *-emь/-ъ̀mь/-ь̀mь.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛm
• Syllabification: -em

Suffix

-em

1. forms the instrumental singular of nouns of declension types: masculine I, II, III, IV, V; neuter I, II, III, IV, V

Further reading

• Zenon Klemensiewicz; Tadeusz Lehr-Spławiński; Stanisław Urbańczyk (1965), Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), III edition, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, page 272
• Krystyna Długosz-Kurczabowa; Stanisław Dubisz (2006), Gramatyka historyczna języka polskiego (in Polish), III edition, Warsaw: Publishers of the University of Warsaw, →ISBN, page 204

Vlax Romani

Suffix

-em

1. Attaches to the perfective stem to form the first-person singular past tense.

Volapük

Suffix

-em

1. An inanimate collective morpheme for a group of things

Derived terms

Volapük terms suffixed with -em

bomem

bukem

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛm/

Suffix

-em (verb inflectional suffix)

1. (literary) marks the first-person plural imperfect/conditional of verbs

Derived terms

Category Welsh terms suffixed with -em not found