Talk:־ון

This Hebrew suffix is used to form denomitative nouns, and is derived from ancient Hebrew, not from Greek.

As Gesenius states, when describing denominative nouns in Hebrew,

"Nouns with the termination ־ָ ן‎ or וֹן‎ expressing adjectival ideas: קַדְמוֹן‎ eastern, from קֶ֫דֶם‎; אַֽחֲרוֹן‎ posterior, from אַחַר‎; חִיצוֹן‎ exterior, from חוּץ‎; probably also לִוְיָתָן‎ coiled, hence coiled animal, serpent, from לִוְיָה‎ a winding; נְחֻשְׁתָּן‎ brazen, from נְח֫שֶׁת‎ brass. Also abstracts, e.g. עִוָּרוֹן‎ blindness, from עִוֵּר‎. Cf. § 85 u.— With a double termination (ôn or ân with ı̂) אַדְמֹנִי‎ reddish, יִדְּעֹנִי‎ a knowing (spirit); צִפְעֹנִי‎ basilisk; רַֽחֲמָֽנִיּוֹת‎ merciful [fem. plur.]."

Jacob Davidson

Hi, thanks for your comments, and for your additions to the entry. However, I don't think I agree with all of your edits. As you say, Hebrew has always had a suffix -ón (stressed) that is not from Ancient Greek, and that forms nouns from other nouns. But it also has a suffix -on (sometimes stressed, sometimes not) for loanwords that have Ancient Greek -on or Latin -um. I'm grateful that you added the former, but befuddled at why you would have removed the latter (including the examples of it). Am I missing something? —Ruakh_TALK 19:45, 9 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Actually, I agree with the current version, as clearly some of the loanwords into Hebrew took on the Greek suffix -on or the Latin suffix -um. However, I was was initially surprised that there was no entry for the original Hebrew suffix -ón. This suffix is a pervasive feature in Biblical Hebrew, used both for the formation of certain nouns, personal names, and in ancient place names.

Jacob Davidson

Split etymologies?

I'm wondering if the diminutive sense of the suffix should be split from the rest because of a potentially different etymology. Is it possible that the two merged after the Canaanite vowel shift? For example, Classical Syriac has the diminutive suffix ܘܢܐ- (-ōnā) and the different adjectival suffix ܢܐ- (-ānā) (which is akin to the Arabic suffix mentioned in the entry). --334a (talk) 05:54, 18 June 2018 (UTC)