kleen

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

• klään (eastern Moselle Franconian, except Westerwald)
• klein (Kölsch; Westerwald)

Etymology

From Old High German kleini, from Proto-Germanic *klainiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kleːn/

Adjective

kleen (masculine kleene, feminine kleen, comparative kleener, superlative et kleenste)

1. (Ripuarian, western Moselle Franconian) little; small

   Mer hann ene kleene Jaade hengerm Huus.

   We have a small garden behind our house.

Usage notes

• Even in dialects that do not have a general n-deletion rule, kleen does commonly lose the final -n in the neuter nominative and accusative before consonants other than h—by analogy with the structure words een (“one”) and keen (“no”). Thus, for example, in Ripuarian: e klee bessje (“a little bit”).

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Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• klenn

Etymology

From Central Franconian kleen, from Middle High German klein, kleine, from Old High German kleini, from Proto-Germanic *klainiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kleːn/

Adjective

kleen (comparative kleener, superlative kleenest)

1. little; small

   Die Tass is zu kleen.

   The cup is too small.

   Sie hon zweu kleene Hunn.

   They have two little dogs.

   Er is noch en kleenes Kind.

   He is still a small child.

Declension

Declension of kleen (see also Appendix:Hunsrik adjectives)
		masculine	feminine	neuter	plural
Weak inflection	nominative	kleen	kleen	kleen	kleene
	accusative	kleene	kleen	kleen	kleene
	dative	kleene	kleene	kleene	kleene
Strong inflection	nominative	kleener	kleene	kleenes	kleene
	accusative	kleene	kleene	kleenes	kleene
	dative	kleenem	kleener	kleenem	kleene

Antonyms

• gros

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

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Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German kleine, from Old Saxon klēni, from Proto-Germanic *klainiz. Cognate to German and Dutch klein, English clean.

Adjective

kleen (comparative klener, superlative kleenst)

1. small

Declension

The following declension only represents one of many possible dialectal grammars.

Positive forms of kleen

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		he is kleen	se is kleen	dat is kleen	se sünd kleen
partitive		een Kleens	een Kleens	wat Kleens	allens Kleen
strong declension (without article)	nominative	klene	klene	kleen	klene
	oblique	klenen	klene	kleen	klene
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	de klene	de klene	dat klene	de klenen
	oblique	den klenen	de klene	dat klene	de klenen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	en klene/klenen	en klene	en kleen/klenet	(keen) klenen
	oblique	en klenen	en klene	en kleen/klenet	(keen) klenen

Comparative forms of kleen

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		he is klener	se is klener	dat is klener	se sünd klener
partitive		een kleners	een kleners	wat kleners	allens klener
strong declension (without article)	nominative	klenere	klenere	klener	klenere
	oblique	klenern	klenere	klener	klenere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	de klenere	de klenere	dat klenere	de klenern
	oblique	den klenern	de klenere	dat klenere	de klenern
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	en klenere/kleneren	en klenere	en klener	(keen) klenern
	oblique	en klenern	en klenere	en klener	(keen) klenern

Superlative forms of kleen

gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		he is de Kleenste	se is de Kleenste	dat is dat Kleenste	se sünd de Kleensten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	kleenste	kleenste	kleenst	kleenste
	oblique	kleensten	kleenste	kleenst	kleenste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	de kleenste	de kleenste	dat kleenste	de kleensten
	oblique	den kleensten	de kleenste	dat kleenste	de kleensten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	en kleenste/kleensten	en kleenste	en kleenst	(keen) kleensten
	oblique	en kleensten	en kleenste	en kleenst	(keen) kleensten

Note: This declension is one of many; neither its grammar nor spelling apply to all dialects.

Synonyms

• lütt