هن

Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /hun.na/

Pronoun

هُنَّ • (hunna) f pl

they (feminine plural subject pronoun)

Pronoun

ـهُنّ or ـهِنّ • (-hunn or -hinn) f pl

their, them (feminine plural bound object pronoun)

Etymology 2

Verb

هن (form I)

هِنْ (hin) /hin/: second-person masculine singular imperative of وَهَنَ (wahana) and وَهِنَ (wahina)
هِنَّ (hinna) /hin.na/: second-person feminine plural imperative of وَهَنَ (wahana) and وَهِنَ (wahina)

Etymology 3

Alteration of هَمّ (hamm, “concern”).

Noun

هَن • (han) m (construct state هَنُو (hanū) or هَنُ (hanu), dual هَنَان (hanān) or هَنَوَان (hanawān), plural هَنُون (hanūn), feminine هَنَة (hana)) (obsolete)

thing, doofer
self, own
genital, pudendum
هَنُوكَ يَلْزَمُ سَتْرُهُ ― Your noonie must be hidden.

Declension

Declension of noun **هَن** (han)
singular	singular long construct
singular	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	هَن han	الْهَن al-han	هَنُو hanū
nominative	هَنٌ hanun	الْهَنُ al-hanu	هَنُو hanū
accusative	هَنًا hanan	الْهَنَ al-hana	هَنَا hanā
genitive	هَنٍ hanin	الْهَنِ al-hani	هَنِي hanī
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	هَنَيْن‎; هَنَوَيْن hanayn‎; hanawayn	الْهَنَيْن‎; الْهَنَوَيْن al-hanayn‎; al-hanawayn	هَنَيْ‎; هَنَوَيْ hanay‎; hanaway
nominative	هَنَانِ‎; هَنَوَانِ hanāni‎; hanawāni	الْهَنَانِ‎; الْهَنَوَانِ al-hanāni‎; al-hanawāni	هَنَا‎; هَنَوَا hanā‎; hanawā
accusative	هَنَيْنِ‎; هَنَوَيْنِ hanayni‎; hanawayni	الْهَنَيْنِ‎; الْهَنَوَيْنِ al-hanayni‎; al-hanawayni	هَنَيْ‎; هَنَوَيْ hanay‎; hanaway
genitive	هَنَيْنِ‎; هَنَوَيْنِ hanayni‎; hanawayni	الْهَنَيْنِ‎; الْهَنَوَيْنِ al-hanayni‎; al-hanawayni	هَنَيْ‎; هَنَوَيْ hanay‎; hanaway
plural	sound masculine plural
plural	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	هَنِين hanīn	الْهَنِين al-hanīn	هَنِي hanī
nominative	هَنُونَ hanūna	الْهَنُونَ al-hanūna	هَنُو hanū
accusative	هَنِينَ hanīna	الْهَنِينَ al-hanīna	هَنِي hanī
genitive	هَنِينَ hanīna	الْهَنِينَ al-hanīna	هَنِي hanī

Derived terms

هُنَيَّة (hunayya), هُنَيْن (hunayn, diminutive)
هَنَى (hanā, “to do”)
هِنْو (hinw, “time”)

Etymology 4

Alteration of حَنَّ (ḥanna).

Verb

هَنَّ • (hanna) I (non-past يَهِنُّ (yahinnu), verbal noun هَنّ (hann) or هَنِين (hanīn)) (obsolete, dialectal)

to groan from desire [with إِلَى (ʔilā)]

Conjugation

Conjugation of **هَنَّ** (I, geminate, a ~ i, full passive (?), verbal nouns **هَنّ**, *هَنِين*)

verbal noun الْمَصْدَر					هَنّ, هَنِين hann, hanīn
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل					هَانّ hānn
passive participle اِسْم الْمَفْعُول					مَهْنُون mahnūn
active voice الْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم
		singular الْمُفْرَد			dual الْمُثَنَّى		plural الْجَمْع
		1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	هَنَنْتُ hanantu	هَنَنْتَ hananta	هَنَّ hanna	هَنَنْتُمَا hanantumā	هَنَّا hannā	هَنَنَّا hanannā	هَنَنْتُمْ hanantum	هَنُّوا hannū
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	f	هَنَنْتُ hanantu	هَنَنْتِ hananti	هَنَّتْ hannat	هَنَنْتُمَا hanantumā	هَنَّتَا hannatā	هَنَنَّا hanannā	هَنَنْتُنَّ hanantunna	هَنَنَّ hananna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَهِنُّ ʔahinnu	تَهِنُّ tahinnu	يَهِنُّ yahinnu	تَهِنَّانِ tahinnāni	يَهِنَّانِ yahinnāni	نَهِنُّ nahinnu	تَهِنُّونَ tahinnūna	يَهِنُّونَ yahinnūna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	f	أَهِنُّ ʔahinnu	تَهِنِّينَ tahinnīna	تَهِنُّ tahinnu	تَهِنَّانِ tahinnāni	تَهِنَّانِ tahinnāni	نَهِنُّ nahinnu	تَهْنِنَّ tahninna	يَهْنِنَّ yahninna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَهِنَّ ʔahinna	تَهِنَّ tahinna	يَهِنَّ yahinna	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	يَهِنَّا yahinnā	نَهِنَّ nahinna	تَهِنُّوا tahinnū	يَهِنُّوا yahinnū
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	f	أَهِنَّ ʔahinna	تَهِنِّي tahinnī	تَهِنَّ tahinna	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	نَهِنَّ nahinna	تَهْنِنَّ tahninna	يَهْنِنَّ yahninna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَهِنَّ, أَهِنِّ, أَهْنِنْ ʔahinna, ʔahinni, ʔahnin	تَهِنَّ, تَهِنِّ, تَهْنِنْ tahinna, tahinni, tahnin	يَهِنَّ, يَهِنِّ, يَهْنِنْ yahinna, yahinni, yahnin	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	يَهِنَّا yahinnā	نَهِنَّ, نَهِنِّ, نَهْنِنْ nahinna, nahinni, nahnin	تَهِنُّوا tahinnū	يَهِنُّوا yahinnū
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	f	أَهِنَّ, أَهِنِّ, أَهْنِنْ ʔahinna, ʔahinni, ʔahnin	تَهِنِّي tahinnī	تَهِنَّ, تَهِنِّ, تَهْنِنْ tahinna, tahinni, tahnin	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	تَهِنَّا tahinnā	نَهِنَّ, نَهِنِّ, نَهْنِنْ nahinna, nahinni, nahnin	تَهْنِنَّ tahninna	يَهْنِنَّ yahninna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		هِنَّ, هِنِّ, اِهْنِنْ hinna, hinni, ihnin		هِنَّا hinnā			هِنُّوا hinnū
imperative الْأَمْر	f		هِنِّي hinnī		هِنَّا hinnā			اِهْنِنَّ ihninna

passive voice الْفِعْل الْمَجْهُول
		singular الْمُفْرَد			dual الْمُثَنَّى		plural الْجَمْع
		1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب	1^st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2^nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3^rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	هُنِنْتُ hunintu	هُنِنْتَ huninta	هُنَّ hunna	هُنِنْتُمَا hunintumā	هُنَّا hunnā	هُنِنَّا huninnā	هُنِنْتُمْ hunintum	هُنُّوا hunnū
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	f	هُنِنْتُ hunintu	هُنِنْتِ huninti	هُنَّتْ hunnat	هُنِنْتُمَا hunintumā	هُنَّتَا hunnatā	هُنِنَّا huninnā	هُنِنْتُنَّ hunintunna	هُنِنَّ huninna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أُهَنُّ ʔuhannu	تُهَنُّ tuhannu	يُهَنُّ yuhannu	تُهَنَّانِ tuhannāni	يُهَنَّانِ yuhannāni	نُهَنُّ nuhannu	تُهَنُّونَ tuhannūna	يُهَنُّونَ yuhannūna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	f	أُهَنُّ ʔuhannu	تُهَنِّينَ tuhannīna	تُهَنُّ tuhannu	تُهَنَّانِ tuhannāni	تُهَنَّانِ tuhannāni	نُهَنُّ nuhannu	تُهْنَنَّ tuhnanna	يُهْنَنَّ yuhnanna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أُهَنَّ ʔuhanna	تُهَنَّ tuhanna	يُهَنَّ yuhanna	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	يُهَنَّا yuhannā	نُهَنَّ nuhanna	تُهَنُّوا tuhannū	يُهَنُّوا yuhannū
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	f	أُهَنَّ ʔuhanna	تُهَنِّي tuhannī	تُهَنَّ tuhanna	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	نُهَنَّ nuhanna	تُهْنَنَّ tuhnanna	يُهْنَنَّ yuhnanna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أُهَنَّ, أُهَنِّ, أُهْنَنْ ʔuhanna, ʔuhanni, ʔuhnan	تُهَنَّ, تُهَنِّ, تُهْنَنْ tuhanna, tuhanni, tuhnan	يُهَنَّ, يُهَنِّ, يُهْنَنْ yuhanna, yuhanni, yuhnan	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	يُهَنَّا yuhannā	نُهَنَّ, نُهَنِّ, نُهْنَنْ nuhanna, nuhanni, nuhnan	تُهَنُّوا tuhannū	يُهَنُّوا yuhannū
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	f	أُهَنَّ, أُهَنِّ, أُهْنَنْ ʔuhanna, ʔuhanni, ʔuhnan	تُهَنِّي tuhannī	تُهَنَّ, تُهَنِّ, تُهْنَنْ tuhanna, tuhanni, tuhnan	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	تُهَنَّا tuhannā	نُهَنَّ, نُهَنِّ, نُهْنَنْ nuhanna, nuhanni, nuhnan	تُهْنَنَّ tuhnanna	يُهْنَنَّ yuhnanna

References

Freytag, Georg (1835) “هن”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 3, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 411b
Freytag, Georg (1837) “هن”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 4, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, pages 414b–415a
Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “هن”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[3] (in French), volume 2, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 1450a
Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “هن”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[4] (in French), volume 2, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, pages 1454a–b

Iraqi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic ـهُنَّ (-hunna) or ـهِنَّ (-hinna).

Suffix

ـهِن (hin) pl

Enclitic form of هنه (hinna)
they, them, their

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

Partly a continuation of Arabic هُنَّ (hunna, “they”, feminine), but considerably influenced by a pronoun borrowed from Western Aramaic^[1]^[2] and cognate to Classical Syriac ܗܢܘܢ (hennon, “they”). The final e vowel may have also arisen in analogy to the development of the other third-person pronouns: هو (huwwe, “he”), هي (hiyye, “she”), and هم (humme, “them”, now obsolete).

هن (hinne) superficially resembles Arabic هُنَّ (hunna) enough that any other origin might appear questionable. However, some problems show up if we discard the Aramaic altogether:

Confounding data

A variant of this pronoun found widely in Syria is هنن (hinnon, hinnen). The two pronunciations are nearly identical to the surviving Western Neo-Aramaic [script needed] (hinnun, “they”, masculine) and [script needed] (hinnin, “they”, feminine), but conspicuously different from Arabic هُنَّ (hunna), which lacks a second ن (n).
Additionally, there are Syrian varieties that do gender this pronoun, but in a strikingly Aramaic-like manner. Two examples from Hama are هنن (hinnon, masculine) & هنن (hinnen, feminine) in as-Suqaylibiyyah and هنو (hinno, masculine) & هني (hinni, feminine) in Morek.
The initial u in Arabic هُنَّ (hunna) differs from the i in هن (hinne). This could be explained by North Levantine Arabic's general tendency to merge u into i in initial closed syllables, but Behnstedt observes that the pronoun has i even in dialects that keep the two vowels distinct. These dialects would be expected to have preserved the u of Arabic هُنَّ (hunna).
هن (hinne) is a gender-neutral pronoun, even though Arabic originally distinguished هُنَّ (hunna, feminine) from هُم (hum, masculine). North Levantine Arabic varieties aren't alone in having replaced both with one common pronoun, but this common pronoun typically developed from Arabic هُم (hum, masculine): see South Levantine Arabic هم (humme) and Egyptian Arabic هم (humma) for examples from closely related varieties. What would have made North Levantine speakers settle on Arabic هُنَّ (hunna) gender-neutrally instead?

Behnstedt points out that Aramaic offers an elegant solution to these problems, but notes that modern Syrian forms like هني (hunni) from the vicinity of Homs and هنن (hunnin) in nearby Manin provide reason to account for influence from the Arabic pronoun as well.

The spelling هن is in direct association with Standard Arabic هُنَّ (hunna), while the alternative spellings follow the word's pronunciation.

Alternative forms

هنه, هني (spellings)
هنن

Pronoun

هن • (hinne) pl or هنن (hinnen)

they
Enclitic form: ـهن (-(h/w/y)un)

Etymology 2

From Arabic ـهُنَّ (-hunna) or ـهِنَّ (-hinna).

Alternative forms

ـن

Suffix

ـهن • (-un, -hun, -wun, -yun) pl

Enclitic form of هن (hinne) or هنن (hinnen)
they, them, their

Usage notes

The pronunciation in careful speech is “-hun”, but the “h” is in the process of being lost. Some speakers currently use “-un” after a consonant and “-hun” after a vowel or diphthong, and some others use “-yun” after vowels and diphthongs instead, but it's most-common for it to assimilate to the preceding sound:
- “-un” after a consonant
- “-hun” or “-un” after the vowel “a”
- “-wun” after the vowel “o”/“u”
- “-yun” after the vowel “e”/“i” and the diphthong “ay”
It might also be spelled as ـن when it's pronounced as “-un”, “-wun” or “-yun”.
Syrian dialects tend to leave compensatory lengthening or gemination in place of the dropped /h/, while Lebanese dialects tend to drop the /h/ altogether and only leave behind phonemic stress:
- (rural or regional)
  فِيهُن يِشْوُوهُن بإِيدَيْهُن
  fīhun yišwūhun b ʔidayhun; b ʔidēhun
  They can grill them with their hands
- (Syria) فِيُّن يِشْوُوُّن بإيدَيُّن، بإِيدَيهُن ― fiyyun yišwuwwun b ʔidayyun; b ʔidēhun (or fīyun yišwūwun, or يِشوُون (yišwūn, “grill them”))
- (Lebanon) فِيُن يِشْوُوُن بإيدَيُن ― fiyun yišwúwun b ʔidáyun (or يِشوُون (yišwūn, “grill them”))
The form with “h” attracts stress to the syllable before it automatically. The form with a dropped “h” still behaves this way for some speakers, but others allow the automatic stress rules to take precedent:
- If pronounced with an /h/, the word كَتَبهُن، كَتَبُن (“he wrote them”) can only take the stress katábhun, but without the /h/ it can be either katábun or kátabun.
- If pronounced with an /h/, the word جَرِّبْهُن، جَرّبُن (“try them!”, masculine imperative) can only take the stress jarríbhun, but without the /h/ it can be either jarríbun or járrbun.
In Lebanon, some speakers (typically older, rural speakers) realize this enclitic pronoun as hinne in some cases.
- كِيفهن (“how are they?”), can be pronounced as kīf(h)un or kīfhinne.

References

^ Peter Behnstedt (1991) “Noch einmal zum Problem der Personalpronomina hənne (3. Pl.), -kon (2. Pl.) und -hon (3. Pl.) in den syrisch-libanesischen Dialekten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, volume 141, number 2, pages 235-252
^ Stephan Procházka (2014) “Feminine and Masculine Plural Pronouns in Modern Arabic Dialects”, in Tal Davidovich, Ablahad Lahdo, and Torkel Lindquist, editors, From Tur Abdin to Hadramawt: Semitic Studies Festschrift in Honour of Bo Isaksson on the occasion of his retirement, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pages 129–148

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

Partially borrowed from an Aramaic pronoun cognate to Classical Syriac ܗܢܘܢ (hennon). Compare with North Levantine Arabic هن (hinne).

The lack of a second ـن (-n), unlike the Aramaic, is due to influence from the form of Arabic هُنَّ (hunna, “they”, feminine plural) and analogy with the final vowels of other third-person pronouns: هو (huwwe, “he”), هي (hiyye), and possibly the aforementioned هم (humme).

The spelling هن is in direct association with Standard Arabic هُنَّ (hunna), while the alternative spellings follow the word's pronunciation.

Alternative forms

هنه

Pronoun

هنّ • (hinne) pl

(Galilee) they
Synonym: هم (humme)

Enclitic form: ـهن (-hen)

Etymology 2

From Arabic ـهُنَّ (-hunna) or ـهِنَّ (-hinna).

Suffix

ـهن • (-hen) pl

Enclitic form of هن (hinne)
(Galilee) they, them, their
Synonym: ـهم (-hom)

[1] Peter Behnstedt (1991) “Noch einmal zum Problem der Personalpronomina hənne (3. Pl.), -kon (2. Pl.) und -hon (3. Pl.) in den syrisch-libanesischen Dialekten”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, volume 141, number 2, pages 235-252

[2] Stephan Procházka (2014) “Feminine and Masculine Plural Pronouns in Modern Arabic Dialects”, in Tal Davidovich, Ablahad Lahdo, and Torkel Lindquist, editors, From Tur Abdin to Hadramawt: Semitic Studies Festschrift in Honour of Bo Isaksson on the occasion of his retirement, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pages 129–148

[1]

[2]

Isolated nominative¹ pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1^st person		أَنَا (ʔanā)	نَحْنُ (naḥnu)
2^nd person	m	أَنْتَ (ʔanta)	أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā)	أَنْتُمْ (ʔantum)
2^nd person	f	أَنْتِ (ʔanti)	أَنْتُمَا (ʔantumā)	أَنْتُنَّ (ʔantunna)
3^rd person	m	هُوَ (huwa)	هُمَا (humā)	هُمْ (hum), هُمُ (humu)²
3^rd person	f	هِيَ (hiya)	هُمَا (humā)	هُنَّ (hunna)

Isolated accusative pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1^st person		إِيَّايَ (ʔiyyāya)	إِيَّانَا (ʔiyyānā)
2^nd person	m	إِيَّاكَ (ʔiyyāka)	إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā)	إِيَّاكُم (ʔiyyākum)
2^nd person	f	إِيَّاكِ (ʔiyyāki)	إِيَّاكُمَا (ʔiyyākumā)	إِيَّاكُنَّ (ʔiyyākunna)
3^rd person	m	إِيَّاهُ (ʔiyyāhu)	إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā)	إِيَّاهُمْ (ʔiyyāhum)
3^rd person	f	إِيَّاهَا (ʔiyyāhā)	إِيَّاهُمَا (ʔiyyāhumā)	إِيَّاهُنَّ (ʔiyyāhunna)

Enclitic accusative and genitive pronouns
		singular	dual	plural
1^st person		ـنِي (-nī), ـنِيَ (-niya), ـي (-y), ـيَ (-ya)³	ـنَا (-nā)
2^nd person	m	ـكَ (-ka)	ـكُمَا (-kumā)	ـكُم (-kum)
2^nd person	f	ـكِ (-ki)	ـكُمَا (-kumā)	ـكُنَّ (-kunna)
3^rd person	m	ـهُ (-hu), ـهِ (-hi)⁴	ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)³	ـهُم (-hum), ـهِم (-him)⁴
3^rd person	f	ـهَا (-hā)	ـهُمَا (-humā), ـهِمَا (-himā)³	ـهُنَّ (-hunna), ـهِنَّ (-hinna)³

North Levantine Arabic personal pronouns
		Singular	Plural
1^st person		أنا (ʔana)	نحنا (niḥna)
2^nd person	m	انت (ʔinta, ʔinte)	انتو (ʔintu)
2^nd person	f	انتي (ʔinti)	انتو (ʔintu)
3^rd person	m	هو (huwwe)	هن (hinne) / هنن (hinnen)
3^rd person	f	هي (hiyye)	هن (hinne) / هنن (hinnen)

North Levantine Arabic enclitic pronouns
		Singular		Plural
		after consonant	after vowel	Plural
1^st person	after verb	ـني (-ni)		ـنا (-na)
1^st person	else	ـِي (-i)	ـي (-y)	ـنا (-na)
2^nd person	m	ـَك (-ak)	ـك (-k)	ـكُن (-kun)
2^nd person	f	ـِك (-ek)	ـكِ (-ki)	ـكُن (-kun)
3^rd person	m	ـُه (-o)	ـه (-h)	ـهُن (-(h/w/y)un)
3^rd person	f	ـها (-(h/w/y)a)		ـهُن (-(h/w/y)un)

هن

Arabic

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

Pronoun

Etymology 2

Verb

Etymology 3

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

See also

Etymology 4

Verb

Conjugation

References

Iraqi Arabic

Etymology

Suffix

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Pronoun

See also

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

Suffix

Usage notes

See also

References

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

Pronoun

Etymology 2

Suffix