أنا
Arabic
Alternative forms
- انا
Etymology 1
From Proto-Semitic *ʾanāku, from Proto-Afro-Asiatic *ˀanāku, hence also Proto-Berber *ənakkʷ (Kabyle nekk) and Egyptian *ˀanāku (Coptic ⲁⲛⲟⲕ (anok)).
Pronoun
أَنَا • (ʾana, ʾanā) 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 (ʾanā) 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 (ʿan)), and the sisters of إِنَّ (ʾinna) except لَعَلَّ (laʿalla). 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 ― sāʿidnī ― help me
- كِتَابِي ― kitābī ― my book
- عَلَيَّ ― ʿalayya ― on me
See also
Arabic personal pronouns
| Isolated nominative pronouns | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | أَنَا (ʾanā) | نَحْنُ (naḥnu) | ||
| 2nd person | m | أَنْتَ (ʾanta) | أَنْتُمَا (ʾantumā) | أَنْتُمْ (ʾantum) |
| f | أَنْتِ (ʾanti) | أَنْتُنَّ (ʾantunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | هُوَ (huwa) | هُمَا (humā) | هُمْ (hum) |
| f | هِيَ (hiya) | هُنَّ (hunna) | ||
| Isolated accusative pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | إِيَّايَ (ʾiyyāya) | إِيَّانَا (ʾiyyānā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | إِيَّاكَ (ʾiyyāka) | إِيَّاكُمَا (ʾiyyākumā) | إِيَّاكُم (ʾiyyākum) |
| f | إِيَّاكِ (ʾiyyāki) | إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʾiyyākunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | إِيَّاهُ (ʾiyyāhu) | إِيَّاهُمَا (ʾiyyāhumā) | إِيَّاهُمْ (ʾiyyāhum) |
| f | إِيَّاهَا (ʾiyyāhā) | إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʾiyyāhunna) | ||
| Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns | ||||
| singular | dual | plural | ||
| 1st person | ـنِي (-nī), ـي (-ī), ـيَ (-ya)* | ـنَا (-nā) | ||
| 2nd person | m | ـكَ (-ka) | ـكُمَا (-kumā) | ـكُم (-kum) |
| f | ـكِ (-ki) | ـكُنَّ (-kunna) | ||
| 3rd person | m | ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)** | ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)** | ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)** |
| f | ـهَا (-hā) | ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)** | ||
| * Specifically, ـنِي (-nī, “me”) is attached to verbs, but ـي (-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 ـي (-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 (ʾinnanī) or إِنِّي (ʾinnī)), but the longer form (e.g. إِنَّنِي (ʾinnanī)) is usually preferred. ** ـهِـ (-hi-) occurs after -i, -ī, or -ay, and ـهُـ (-hu-) elsewhere (after -a, -ā, -u, -ū, -aw). | ||||
Declension
Declension of noun أَنَا (ʾanā)
| Singular | singular invariable | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
| Informal | أَنَا ʾanā |
الْأَنَا al-ʾanā |
أَنَا ʾanā |
| Nominative | أَنَا ʾanā |
الْأَنَا al-ʾanā |
أَنَا ʾanā |
| Accusative | أَنَا ʾanā |
الْأَنَا al-ʾanā |
أَنَا ʾanā |
| Genitive | أَنَا ʾanā |
الْأَنَا al-ʾanā |
أَنَا ʾanā |
References
- Wehr, Hans (1979), “أنا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
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