-an

-an is a suffix, commonly used in various Indo-European languages. In English language, the -an suffix is added to a word denoting an action or an adjective that suggests pertaining to, thereby forming an agent noun. As such, there are many demonyms which end in this suffix. The root of such agent nouns are sometimes derived from the Latin suffix -ia, with the -ia suffix denoting a feminine ending for adjectives.[1]

Suffix -an (Persian: ـ‌ان‎ or ـ‌آن) is also a Persian suffix, of the Middle Persian and New Persian language. It is a suffix for location, plural formation, formation of infinitives, adverb, and personal pronouns. Birgit Anette Olsen points out that "[O]ne of the functions of the Iranian Suffix -an is the derivation of nomina loci."[2]

See also

References
  1. Connors, Kathleen. "Studies in feminine agentives in selected European languages." Romance Philology 24.4 (1971): 573-598.
  2. Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999). The Noun in Biblical Armenian: Origin and Word-Formation. Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM]. 119. Walter de Gruyter. p. 311. ISBN 9783110801989 – via Google Books.


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