# -अन
## Hindi
### Pronunciation

* (Delhi) IPA: /ən/, [ɐ̃n]

### Etymology 1

* Inherited from Sanskrit -अन (-ana). Doublet of -ना (-nā).
* Borrowed from Sanskrit -अन (-ana), used in pseudo-Sanskritisms.

#### Alternative forms

* -अण (-aṇ) — in the vicinity of र (ra) and ष (ṣa) (only in Sanskritic formations)

#### Suffix

-अन • (-an)
* forms nouns of either gender indicating agent nouns, abstract nouns, tool or means, or location
    ‎पराग (parāg, “pollen”) + ‎-अन (-an) → ‎परागण (parāgaṇ, “pollination”)
    ‎बरतना (baratnā, “to make use of”) + ‎-अन (-an) → ‎बर्तन (bartan, “pot, vessel”)
    ‎ऐंठना (a͠iṭhnā, “to be twisted”) + ‎-अन (-an) → ‎ऐंठन (a͠iṭhan, “a twist, tension”)

##### Derived terms
### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian ـًا (-an), from Arabic ـًا (-an, triptotic indefinite accusative ending).

#### Suffix

-अन • (-an)
* forms adverbs from Perso-Arabic terms
    ‎ऐहतियात (aihtiyāt, “precaution”) + ‎-अन (-an) → ‎ऐहतियातन (aihtiyātan, “precautionarily”)

##### Derived terms
### Etymology 3

Inherited from Sanskrit -इनी (-inī), feminine of -इन् (-in, possessive suffix).

#### Suffix

-अन • (-an)
* alternative form of -इन (-in): feminine-equivalent forming suffix
    ‎देहाती (dehātī) + ‎-अन (-an) → ‎देहातन (dehātan, “female villager”)

##### Derived terms
### References

* McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “-अन”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 29

## Sanskrit
### Alternative forms

* -अण (-aṇa) — in the vicinity of र (ra) and ष (ṣa)

### Alternative scripts

* -ᬅᬦ (Balinese script)
* -အန (Burmese script)
* -अन (Devanagari script)
* -ਅਨ (Gurmukhi script)
* -𑌅𑌨 (Grantha script)
* -ꦄꦤ (Javanese script)
* -𑂃𑂢 (Kaithi script)
* -អន (Khmer script)
* -ອນ (Lao script)
* -അന (Malayalam script)
* -ᠠᠨᠠ (Manchu script)
* -𑘀𑘡 (Modi script)
* -ᠠᠨᠠ᠋ (Mongolian script)
* -𑦠𑧁 (Nandinagari script)
* -𑐀𑐣 (Newa script)
* -ଅନ (Odia script)
* -ꢂꢥ (Saurashtra script)
* -𑆃𑆤 (Sharada script)
* -𑖀𑖡 (Siddham script)
* -අන (Sinhalese script)
* -𑩐𑩯 (Soyombo script)
* -𑚀𑚝 (Takri script)
* -அந (Tamil script)
* -อน (Thai script)
* -ཨ་ན (Tibetan script)
* -𑨀𑨝 (Zanabazar Square script)

### Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *-onom, from:
* *-o- (thematic vowel) + *-nom (verbal noun suffix), cognate with Proto-Germanic *-aną
* *-on- (agent noun suffix) + *-o-s/m.

### Pronunciation

* (Vedic) IPA: /ɐ.nɐ/
* (Classical Sanskrit) IPA: /ɐ.n̪ɐ/

### Suffix

-अन • (-ana) n or m
* forms masculine agent nouns
    ‎सम् + गम् (sam + gam, “to gather”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎संगमन (saṃgamana, “gatherer”)
    ‎दृप् (dṛp, “to become/make proud”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎दर्पण (darpaṇa, “mirror < proud-maker”)
* forms neuter nouns denoting
** verbal abstracta
    ‎कृ (kṛ, “to do, make”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎करण (karaṇa, “(act of) doing”)
    ‎मृ (mṛ, “to die”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎मरण (maraṇa, “death”)
** tool or means
    ‎ईक्ष् (īkṣ, “to observe”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎ईक्षण (īkṣaṇa, “eye”)
    ‎वस् (vas, “to dress”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎वसन (vasana, “garment”)
    ‎स्कम्भ् (skambh, “to support”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎स्कम्भन (skambhana, “pillar”)
** location
    ‎स्था (sthā, “to stand”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎स्थान (sthāna, “place”)
    ‎यज् (yaj, “to sacrifice”) + ‎-अन (-ana) → ‎यजन (yajana, “sacrificial site”)

#### Usage notes

The vowel of the root generally takes the गुण (guṇa) degree, but sometimes takes the वृद्धि (vṛddhi) degree.

#### Declension

* ¹Vedic
* ¹Vedic

#### Descendants

* Prakrit: -𑀅𑀡 (-aṇa)
** Bengali: -না (-na), -অনা (-ona)
** Hindi: -ना (-nā)

### Further reading

* Wackernagel, Jakob, Albert Debrunner (1896-1964) Altindische Grammatik [Grammar of Ancient Indian] (Indogermanische Bibliothek. 2. Reihe: Wörterbücher)‎ (in German), Vol. II.2: Die Nominalsuffixe, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, published 1954, §81-93, pages 180-206