أنا
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Arabic
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Proto-Semitic *ʔanāku, from Proto-Afroasiatic *ˀanāku, hence also Proto-Berber *ənăkkʷ (Kabyle nekk) and Egyptian jnk (Coptic ⲁⲛⲟⲕ (anok)).
Cognate with Hebrew אני (aní).
Pronoun
أَنَا • (ʔana, ʔanā) m or f (enclitic form ـِيَ (-iya) or ـِي (-ī) or ـنِي (-nī) or ـنِيَ (-niya))
- I (first person singular subject pronoun)
Usage notes
أَنَا (ʔanā) has four enclitic forms which are employed in different contexts and are generally not interchangeable. The enclitic forms ـنِي (-nī) and ـنِيَ (-niya) are attached to verbs, prepositions ending in نْ (n) with no final vowel (e.g., مِنْ (min) and عَنْ (ʕan)), and the sisters of إِنَّ (ʔinna) except لَعَلَّ (laʕalla). The forms ـِي (-ī) and ـيَ (-ya) are used elsewhere, but in cases where ـِي (-ī) would be preceded by a long vowel, only ـيَ (-ya) is used.
- سَاعِدْنِي ― sāʕidnī ― help me
- كِتَابِي ― kitābī ― my book
- عَلَيَّ ― ʕalayya ― on me
Descendants
- Egyptian Arabic: أنا (ʔana)
- Gulf Arabic: آنا (āna)
- Maltese: jien, jiena
- Moroccan Arabic: آنا (ʔāna), أنا (ʔana)
- South Levantine Arabic: أنا (ʔana)
- Tunisian Arabic: آنا (ʔāna)
See also
| Arabic personal pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isolated nominative1 pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | أَنَا (ʔanā) | نَحْنُ (naḥnu) | ||
| 2nd person | m | أَنْتَ (ʔanta) | أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā) | أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum) |
| f | أَنْتِ (ʔanti) | أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هُوَ (huwa) | هُمَا (humā) | هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)2 |
| f | هِيَ (hiya) | هُنَّ (hunna) | ||
| Isolated accusative pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya) | إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka) | إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā) | إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum) |
| f | إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki) | إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu) | إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā) | إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum) |
| f | إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā) | إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna) | ||
| Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)3 | ـنَا (-nā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | ـكَ (-ka) | ـكُمَا (-kumā) | ـكُم (-kum) |
| f | ـكِ (-ki) | ـكُنَّ (-kunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)4 | ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)3 | ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)4 |
| f | ـهَا (-hā) | ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)3 | ||
| 1. Also used to emphasize attached pronouns and as a copula. 2. هُمْ (hum) becomes هُمُ (humu) before the definite article الـ (al--). 3. Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya, “my”) is attached to nouns. In the latter case, ـيَ (-ya) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a long vowel or diphthong (e.g. in the sound masculine plural and the dual), while ـِي (-ī) is attached to nouns whose construct state ends in a short vowel, in which case that vowel is elided (e.g. in the sound feminine plural, as well as the singular and broken plural of most nouns). Furthermore, -ū of the masculine sound plural is assimilated to -ī before ـيَ (-ya) (presumably, -aw of masculine defective -an plurals is similarly assimilated to -ay). Prepositions use ـِي (-ī) or ـيَ (-ya), even though in this case it has the meaning of “me” rather than “my”. The sisters of inna can use either form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʔinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʔinnī)). 4. ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw). | ||||
Etymology 2
From أَنَا (ʔanā, “I”), semantic loan from German Ich, possibly through ego.
Noun
أَنَا • (ʔanā) f or m
Declension
Declension of noun أَنَا (ʔanā)
References
- Wehr, Hans (1979) “أنا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
Chadian Arabic
Etymology
Pronoun
أنا • (ʔana) m or f
Egyptian Arabic
Alternative forms
- انا (ana)
Etymology
Pronunciation
Pronoun
أنا • (ʔana) m or f
See also
| Egyptian Arabic personal pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |||
| 1st person | أنا (ʔana) | إحنا (ʔiḥna) | ||
| 2nd person | m | إنت (ʔinta) | إنتوا (ʔintu) | |
| f | إنتي (ʔinti) | |||
| 3rd person | m | هو (huwwa) | هم (humma, hum) | |
| f | هي (hiyya) | |||
Hijazi Arabic
Etymology
Pronunciation
Pronoun
أنا • (ʔana) m or f
- I (first person singular subject pronoun)
See also
| Hijazi Arabic personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person | أَنَا (ʔana) | إِحْنَا (ʔiḥna) / نِحْنَ (niḥna) | |
| 2nd person | m | إِنْتَ (ʔinta) | إِنْتُو (ʔintu) |
| f | إِنْتِ (ʔinti) / إِنْتِي (ʔinti) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هُوَّ (huwwa) | هُمَّ (humma) |
| f | هِيَّ (hiyya) | ||
Moroccan Arabic
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Pronoun
أنا • (ʔana) m or f
See also
| Moroccan Arabic personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person | آنا (ʔāna), أنا (ʔana) | حنا (ḥnā) | |
| 2nd person | m | انت (ntā), انتينا (ntīna), انتين (ntīn) | انتوما (ntūma), انتوم (ntūm) |
| f | انت (ntī), انتينا (ntīna), انتين (ntīn) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هو (huwwa) | هوما (hūma), هوم (hūm) |
| f | هي (hiyya) | ||
Etymology 2
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Adverb
أنا • (ʔana)
- (interrogative) which?
North Levantine Arabic
Etymology
Pronoun
أنا • (ʾana) m or f
See also
| North Levantine Arabic personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person | أنا (ʔana) | نحنا (niḥna) | |
| 2nd person | m | انت (ʔinta, ʔinte) | انتو (ʔintu) |
| f | انتي (ʔinti) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هو (huwwe) | هن (hinne) / هنن (hinnen) |
| f | هي (hiyye) | ||
South Levantine Arabic
Etymology
Pronunciation
Pronoun
أنا • (ʔana) m or f (enclitic form ـي (-i) or ـني (-ni))
- I (first-person singular subject pronoun)
See also
| South Levantine Arabic personal pronouns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| 1st person | أنا (ʔana) | احنا (ʔiḥna) | |
| 2nd person | m | انت (ʔinta) | انتو (ʔintu) |
| f | انتي (ʔinti) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هو (huwwe) | هم (homme) |
| f | هي (hiyye) | ||