nunnation

English

Etymology

nun +‎ -ation, from Arabic نُون (nūn, “the letter ن”).

Noun

nunnation (plural nunnations)

1. Alternative spelling of nunation.
2. (dated) A stammering speech disorder, in which the /n/ sound is given to other consonants.
3. (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.