én

See also: Appendix:Variations of "en"

Danish

Numeral

én

1. Alternative form of en

Pronoun

én

1. Alternative form of en

Usage notes

Accent is optional, and reflects intonation. Compare, for example, hun har kun en kat "she only has a cat" with hun har kun én kat "she has only one cat".

Hungarian

Etymology

From Old Hungarian ɛ̄n. Usually considered to continue the Proto-Uralic first-person pronoun *minä (compare e.g. Finnish minä), but there is no consensus on how the Hungarian word has developed to its present shape. At least four proposals have been advanced:

1. irregular loss of the word-initial *m-
2. from earlier *ɛmen, through the vocalization and loss of word-internal *-m-, as in many other cases such as ó (“old”)
3. from earlier *ɛ̄mn, with the cluster *mn simplified to n
4. from earlier *ɛ̄m, derived from the shorter Uralic root *mi, and with the irregular simplification of the root-final *-m to -n, perhaps first in the accusative engem (< ? *ɛmgɛm).

The last three options assume that the word was prefixed with *ɛ- at some point, perhaps an intensifying particle, or from the Proto-Uralic pronoun root *e- (“this”) (compare ez (“this”)).

Similarly irregular first-person pronouns occur in Mansi: Northern Mansi ам (am), Southern Mansi [script needed] (äm), and even in Chuvash: эпӗ (ep̬ĕ) from Proto-Turkic *ben. If these have a similar origin as the Hungarian word, they are the most compatible with the third and fourth explanations.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈeːn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːn

Pronoun

én

1. (personal) I (first-person singular)

   Én vagyok a képen. ― I am in the picture.

Declension

declension of én nominative én accusative engem dative nekem instrumental velem causal-final értem inessive bennem superessive rajtam adessive nálam illative belém sublative rám allative hozzám elative belőlem delative rólam ablative tőlem

Derived terms

Note: In all these forms, én is optional and only serves for emphasis.

• énalattam, énáltalam, énelőttem, etc. (én + a postposition with the first-person singular personal suffix; see Appendix:Hungarian postpositions)
• énnekem, énvelem, énhozzám etc. (én + one of the declined forms listed in the chart above; see Appendix:Hungarian pronouns)

Noun

én (plural ének)

1. (psychology) self, ego

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	én	ének
accusative	ént	éneket
dative	énnek	éneknek
instrumental	énnel	énekkel
causal-final	énért	énekért
translative	énné	énekké
terminative	énig	énekig
essive-formal	énként	énekként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	énben	énekben
superessive	énen	éneken
adessive	énnél	éneknél
illative	énbe	énekbe
sublative	énre	énekre
allative	énhez	énekhez
elative	énből	énekből
delative	énről	énekről
ablative	éntől	énektől
non-attributive possessive - singular	éné	éneké
non-attributive possessive - plural	énéi	énekéi

Possessive forms of én
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	énem	énjeim
2nd person sing.	éned	énjeid
3rd person sing.	énje	énjei
1st person plural	énünk	énjeink
2nd person plural	énetek	énjeitek
3rd person plural	énjük	énjeik

Derived terms

Compound words

• énidő (én-idő)
• énkép
• énközpontú → énközpontúság
• énkultusz
• énregény
• éntudat

 

Expressions

• felettes én (superego)
• költői én
• lírai én (lyrical I, lyrical subject)

 

Further reading

• én in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• én in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Ligurian

Verb

én

1. third-person plural present indicative of êse; “[​they​] are”

Mandarin

Alternative forms

• en — nonstandard

Romanization

én (en², Zhuyin ㄣˊ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嗯

Norwegian Bokmål

Numeral

én

1. stressed form of en

Derived terms

• énskinnebane

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• hén

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːn/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *ɸetnos.

Noun

én m (genitive éuin or éoin, nominative plural éuin or éoin)

1. bird

Inflection

Masculine o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	én	énL	éuinL
Vocative	éuin	énL	éunuH
Accusative	énN	énL	éunuH
Genitive	éuinL	én	énN
Dative	éunL	énaib	énaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: éan
• Manx: eean
• Scottish Gaelic: eun
• ⇒ Middle Irish: senén

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Interjection

én!

1. lo!

Mutation

Mutation of én

radical	lenition	nasalization
én (pronounced with /h/ in h-prothesis environments)	unchanged	n-én

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 én”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 én”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Nubian

Etymology

From Proto-Nubian *éen¹, possibly from Proto-Nilo-Saharan *anɛŋ (“woman”)².

Noun

én

1. mother

References

• Browne, Gerald M - Old Nubian Dictionary - Claremont School of Theology - 1996 - p 72

Scanian

Scanian cardinal numbers

<  0	1	2  >
Cardinal : én

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ʊɪ̯ːn]

Numeral

én

1. one.

Vietnamese

Etymology

From Proto-Vietic *ʔɛːnʔ, non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 燕 (SV: yến). Doublet of yến.

Pronunciation

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ʔɛn˧˦]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ʔɛŋ˦˧˥]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ʔɛŋ˦˥]

Noun

(classifier con) én • (燕)

1. a swallow (bird)

   Synonym: nhạn

2. (loosely) Synonym of yến (“swift”) (bird)