nunnation
English
Etymology
nun + -ation, from Arabic نُون (nūn, “the letter ن”).
Noun
nunnation (plural nunnations)
- Alternative spelling of nunation.
- (dated) A stammering speech disorder, in which the /n/ sound is given to other consonants.
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- (archaic, rare) An inclination of Germanic languages to employ -n in endings.
- 1875, Robert Gordon Latham, Handbook of the English Language: For the Use of Students of the Universities and Higher Classes of Schools, Ninth edition, London: Longmans, Green & Co., page 202:
- § 146. The two important exceptions to the rule
that the Frisian agrees with the Westsaxon rather than
with the Northumbrian are the two connected with its
Phonesis; in respect to (1) its Nunnation and (2) its
Sigmatismus. It has less of both than the Westsaxon;
though the absence of neither is quite so conspicuous
as it is in the Norse.
§ 147. Eschewal of the Nunnation; Change from -an to -a.—This we find in three inflections:
a. In the Weak (or Simple) Substantive—A. S.; eágan = eye’s and eyes, &c.; tungan = tongue’s and tongues, &c.; naman = name’s and names &c.—in Frisian ága, tunga, nama, &c.
b. In the Definite Adjective—A. S. gódan = boni, bonæ, bono, in the Singular; and boni, bonæ, bona, bonos, &c., in the Plural. In Frisian the form is góda.
c. In the Infinitive Mood of Verbs — A. S. deman = judicare, bærnan = urere, &c.; in Frisian, dema, berna, &c.
In all these the Northumbrian agrees with the Frisian, and both with the Norse.