hun
Translingual
Symbol
hun
- (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Hungarian.
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /hʌn/
- Rhymes: -ʌn
Noun
hun (plural huns)
- (informal) Alternative spelling of hon (“affectionate abbreviation of honey”)
Etymology 2
Short for Hungarian partridge.
Noun
hun (plural huns)
- A grey partridge.
Noun
hun (plural huns)
- Alternative form of hoon (“Indian gold coin”)
Anagrams
- nuh, unh
Alemannic German
Alternative forms
- hund, hunn, hònn (Walser)
- Hund
Etymology
From Middle High German hunt, from Old High German hunt, from Proto-Germanic *hundaz. Cognate with German Hund, Dutch hond, English hound, Icelandic hundur.
Noun
hun m
- (Formazza) dog
References
- Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
Breton
Noun
hun ?
- sleep
Catalan
Pronunciation
- (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA(key): /ˈun/
- Homophone: un
Noun
hun m (plural huns, feminine huna)
- Hun
Further reading
- “hun” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “hun”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
- “hun” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Danish
Etymology
From Old Norse hón (“she”), from Proto-Norse *ᚺᚨᚾᚢ (*hanu), the feminine form, with u-umlaut, of *ᚺᚨᚾᚨᛉ (*hanaʀ) (= Danish han (“he”), Old Norse hann).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [hun]
Pronoun
hun (objective case hende, possessive hendes)
- (personal) she
See also
| Number | Person | Type | Nominative | Oblique | Possessive | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| common | neuter | plural | |||||
| Singular | First | – | jeg | mig | min | mit | mine |
| Second | modern / informal | du | dig | din | dit | dine | |
| formal | De | Dem | Deres | ||||
| Third | masculine (person) | han | ham | hans | |||
| feminine (person) | hun | hende | hendes | ||||
| common(noun) | den | dens | |||||
| neuter(noun) | det | dets | |||||
| reflexive | – | sig | sin | sit | sine | ||
| Plural | First | modern | vi | os | vores | ||
| archaic / formal | vor | vort | vore | ||||
| Second | – | I | jer | jeres | |||
| Third | – | de | dem | deres | |||
| reflexive | – | sig | |||||
References
- “hun,2” in Den Danske Ordbog
Noun
hun c (singular definite hunnen, plural indefinite hunner)
- female, she
Inflection
| common gender | Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | hun | hunnen | hunner | hunnerne |
| genitive | huns | hunnens | hunners | hunnernes |
References
- “hun,1” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɦʏn/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: hun
- Rhymes: -ʏn
Pronoun
hun (personal)
- The dative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them, to them.
- (proscribed) The accusative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: them.
Usage notes
The difference between hen (as direct object) and hun (as indirect object) does not stem from actual language usage, but was created artificially by the prescriptive grammarian Christiaen van Heule in the 17th century in an attempt to differentiate between the accusative (direct object) and dative case (indirect object), a distinction that was then commonly made in the definite article and certain pronouns, but not the personal pronouns.
In practice, hen and hun have been used interchangeably in Modern Dutch since the language has lost its grammatical case system. Many native speakers are not aware or have trouble remembering when to use one over the other, in part because of the rule's artificiality, in part because the distinction in form between the accusative and dative case has not been preserved anywhere else in the language. As a consequence, it is common to hear sentences where they are used in the exactly opposite way from van Heule's rule; for example:
- Hij heeft hun verraden. (“He has betrayed them.”)
- Ze zijn met hun uitgegaan. (“They have gone out with them.”)
- Ik heb het hen gegeven. (“I have given it to them.”)
When the pronoun is unstressed, the problem can be circumvented by using the reduced form ze:
- Hij heeft ze verraden.
- Ze zijn met ze uitgegaan.
- Ik heb het ze gegeven.
For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.
Pronoun
hun (personal) (dependent possessive) (independent possessive hunne)
- The third-person plural possessive pronoun: their.
- Ken je hun broer?
- Do you know their brother?
Inflection
| subject | object | possessive | reflexive | genitive5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | full | unstr. | pred. | ||
| 1st person | ik | 'k1 | mij | me | mijn | m'n1 | mijne | me | mijner, mijns |
| 2nd person | jij | je | jou | je | jouw | je | jouwe | je | jouwer, jouws |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person masculine | hij | ie1 | hem | 'm1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| 3rd person feminine | zij | ze | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | haar | h'r1, 'r1, d'r1 | hare | zich | harer, haars |
| 3rd person neuter | het | 't1 | het | 't1 | zijn | z'n1 | zijne | zich | zijner, zijns |
| plural | |||||||||
| 1st person | wij | we | ons | – | ons, onze2 | – | onze | ons | onzer, onzes |
| 2nd person | jullie | je | jullie | je | jullie | je | – | je | – |
| 2nd person archaic or regiolectal6 | gij | ge | u | – | uw | – | uwe | u | uwer, uws |
| 2nd person formal | u | – | u | – | uw | – | uwe | zich | uwer, uws |
| 3rd person | zij | ze | hen3, hun4 | ze | hun | – | hunne | zich | hunner, huns |
| 1) Not as common in written language. 2) Inflected as an adjective. 3) In prescriptivist use, used only as direct object (accusative). 4) In prescriptivist use, used only as indirect object (dative). | 5) Archaic. Nowadays used for formal, literary or poetic purposes, and in fixed expressions. 6) To differentiate from the singular gij, and in a similar vein to "you lot" or "you guys" in English, it is common to use gijlui ("you people") or gijlieden ("you people") or one of their contracted variants, and their corresponding objects, possessives and reflexives, in the plural. | ||||||||
Related terms
- zij, ze
- hen
Etymology 2
Likely a replacement of or based on dialectal Dutch hullie or a variant thereof, which is a contraction of hunlieden or hunlui, a compound of hun ("them") + lieden or lui (both meaning "men, people"), which then translates roughly into "them-people". Possibly reinfluenced by or confused with the possessive hun. This etymology explains why usage of hun occurs only when referring to people, never to objects. It's similar to dialectal zun often used colloquially in the Belgian province of Antwerp, which is a contraction of ze ("they") + hun ("them"), and which is also only used for people. Also compare Afrikaans hulle, which also stems from hunlui, but is now used also for things. For more information, see the article in the Dutch Wikipedia.
Pronoun
hun (personal)
- (proscribed, regiolectal, Netherlands) The nominative case of the third-person plural personal pronoun: they (only referring to people).
- Synonyms: zijlui, zijlieden
Usage notes
- The use of hun as a subject is considered incorrect or substandard by most speakers, both in written and spoken language, and only occurs in the Netherlands.
- For a 3rd person plural pronoun referring to people only, zijlui or zijlieden can be used instead.
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈhun]
- Rhymes: -un
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin Hunni.[1][2]
Adjective
hun (not comparable)
- Hunnic, Hunnish (of or relating to the Huns)
Declension
| Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | hun | hunok |
| accusative | hunt | hunokat |
| dative | hunnak | hunoknak |
| instrumental | hunnal | hunokkal |
| causal-final | hunért | hunokért |
| translative | hunná | hunokká |
| terminative | hunig | hunokig |
| essive-formal | hunként | hunokként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | hunban | hunokban |
| superessive | hunon | hunokon |
| adessive | hunnál | hunoknál |
| illative | hunba | hunokba |
| sublative | hunra | hunokra |
| allative | hunhoz | hunokhoz |
| elative | hunból | hunokból |
| delative | hunról | hunokról |
| ablative | huntól | hunoktól |
| non-attributive possessive - singular | huné | hunoké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural | hunéi | hunokéi |
Noun
hun (plural hunok)
- Hun (a member of a nomadic tribe)
Declension
| Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | |
| nominative | hun | hunok |
| accusative | hunt | hunokat |
| dative | hunnak | hunoknak |
| instrumental | hunnal | hunokkal |
| causal-final | hunért | hunokért |
| translative | hunná | hunokká |
| terminative | hunig | hunokig |
| essive-formal | hunként | hunokként |
| essive-modal | — | — |
| inessive | hunban | hunokban |
| superessive | hunon | hunokon |
| adessive | hunnál | hunoknál |
| illative | hunba | hunokba |
| sublative | hunra | hunokra |
| allative | hunhoz | hunokhoz |
| elative | hunból | hunokból |
| delative | hunról | hunokról |
| ablative | huntól | hunoktól |
| non-attributive possessive - singular | huné | hunoké |
| non-attributive possessive - plural | hunéi | hunokéi |
| Possessive forms of hun | ||
|---|---|---|
| possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
| 1st person sing. | hunom | hunjaim |
| 2nd person sing. | hunod | hunjaid |
| 3rd person sing. | hunja | hunjai |
| 1st person plural | hununk | hunjaink |
| 2nd person plural | hunotok | hunjaitok |
| 3rd person plural | hunjuk | hunjaik |
Etymology 2
From hol.
Adverb
hun
- (dialectal) Alternative form of hol (“where”).
Derived terms
- sehun (dialectal)
References
- hun in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)
- hun in Tótfalusi, István. Magyar etimológiai nagyszótár (’Hungarian Comprehensive Dictionary of Etymology’). Budapest: Arcanum Adatbázis, 2001; Arcanum DVD Könyvtár →ISBN
Further reading
- (Hun, Hunnic): hun in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
- (where [dialectal]): hun in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
Iu Mien
Etymology
From Chinese 園 (MC ɦʉɐn).
Noun
hun
- garden
Label
Etymology
Compare Tolai vudu and Patpatar hudu.
Noun
hun
- banana
References
- Mosel, Ulrike (1980) Tolai and Tok Pisin: the influence of the substratum on the development of New Guinea Pidgin (Pacific Linguistics; Series B, no. 73), Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN
Malay
Noun
hun (plural hun-hun, informal 1st possessive hunku, 2nd possessive hunmu, 3rd possessive hunnya)
- A unit of weight equal to one hundredth of a tahil.
Mandarin
Romanization
hun (hun5 / hun0, Zhuyin ˙ㄏㄨㄣ)
- Nonstandard spelling of hūn.
- Nonstandard spelling of hún.
- Nonstandard spelling of hǔn.
- Nonstandard spelling of hùn.
Usage notes
- English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
Middle English
Noun
hun
- Alternative form of hund (“hundred”)
Middle Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /hʉn/
Numeral
hun
- h-prothesized form of un
Min Nan
| For pronunciation and definitions of hun – see 分 (“to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to assign; to allot; etc.”). (This character, hun, is the Pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 分.) |
Mizo
Noun
hun
- time
North Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian hond. Cognates include Mooring North Frisian hönj and West Frisian hân.
Noun
hun f (plural hunen)
- (Föhr-Amrum) (anatomy) hand
- a rocht(er)/lacht(er) hun
- the right/left hand
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
From Danish hun, from Old Norse hón.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /hʉn/
- Homophones: hund, hunn
- Rhymes: -ʉn
Pronoun
hun (accusative henne, genitive hennes)
- she
Derived terms
- hunkjønn / hunnkjønn
See also
| Number | Person | Type | Nominative | Oblique | Possessive | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| feminine | masculine | neuter | plural | |||||
| Singular | First | – | jeg | meg | mi | min | mitt | mine |
| Second | – | du | deg | di | din | ditt | dine | |
| Third | feminine (person) | hun | henne | hennes | ||||
| masculine (person) | han | ham / han | hans | |||||
| feminine (noun) | den | dens | ||||||
| masculine (noun) | ||||||||
| neuter (noun) | det | dets | ||||||
| reflexive | – | seg | si | sin | sitt | sine | ||
| Plural | First | – | vi | oss | vår | vårt | våre | |
| Second | – | dere | deres | |||||
| Third | general | de | dem | deres | ||||
| reflexive | – | seg | si | sin | sitt | sine | ||
- ho (Nynorsk)
- hoe (Nynorsk)
Etymology 2
From Old Norse húnn (“a die”).
Alternative forms
- hon
Noun
hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural huner, definite plural hunene)
- back board
References
- “hun” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
From Old Norse húnn (“bear cub”),[1] from Proto-Germanic *hūnaz.
Noun
hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)
- a bear cub
- Synonym: bjørnunge
Etymology 2
From Old Norse húnn (“die”).[1]
Alternative forms
- (since 2019) hon[2]
Noun
hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)
- back part of a log that might still be used as a plank
Etymology 3
From Old Norse húnar, húnir pl.
Noun
hun m (definite singular hunen, indefinite plural hunar, definite plural hunane)
- a Hun (a member of a nomadic tribe from Central Asia)
- Synonym: hunar
References
- “hun” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
- Language Council of Norway, Spelling decisions since 2012 (in Norwegian, retrieved 12.22.20)
- “hun”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016
Old High German
Proper noun
hun
- manuscript spelling of Hūn, nominative singular of Hūni
Old Portuguese
Article
hun
- Alternative form of ũu
Romanian
Etymology
From French Huns, from Latin Hunni.
Noun
hun m (plural huni)
- Hun
Declension
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite articulation | definite articulation | indefinite articulation | definite articulation | |
| nominative/accusative | (un) hun | hunul | (niște) huni | hunii |
| genitive/dative | (unui) hun | hunului | (unor) huni | hunilor |
| vocative | hunule | hunilor | ||
Tetum
Etymology
From *pun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *puqun, compare Malay pohon.
Noun
hun
- bottom, base
- beginning
- origin
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [hun˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [hun˧˧]
- (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA(key): [hʊwŋ͡m˧˧]
Etymology 1
Typical Central and Southern Vietnamese retention of medial *u, which often developed into ‹ô› (or ‹o›) in Northern dialects; later strengthened with the use of "slang" to avoid awkward situations. Compare rún vs. rốn, thúi vs. thối.
Verb
hun • (㖧)
- Central Vietnam and Southern Vietnam form of to kiss
Usage notes
- The Northern form with [o] is pretty much never used in daily speech by speakers of Central and Southern dialects, although they might choose to use it in formal writing.
Synonyms
- thơm, hôn, chu, chụt, mi
Etymology 2
Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 熏 (SV: huân).
Verb
hun • (焝, 熏, 燻)
- to smoke (to preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke)
Derived terms
- hun đúc
- hun khói
Anagrams
- nhu
Welsh
Pronunciation
- (North Wales) IPA(key): /hɨːn/
- (South Wales) IPA(key): /hiːn/
Etymology 1
From Proto-Brythonic *hʉn, from Proto-Celtic *sounos, from Proto-Indo-European *swépnos (“sleep”).
Noun
hun f (plural hunau, not mutable)
- sleep
Derived terms
- anhun (“wakefulness”)
- huno (verb)
Etymology 2
The pronoun is a lexicalization of the mutated numeral.
Numeral
hun
- h-prothesized form of un
Pronoun
hun
- (with possessive article, North Wales) self
- ei hun ― himself, herself
- ein hun ― ourselves
Related terms
- hunan (South Wales)
Mutation
| Welsh mutation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| radical | soft | nasal | h-prothesis |
| un | unchanged | unchanged | hun |
| Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. | |||
Yucatec Maya
Etymology
From Proto-Mayan *juun.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈhun]
Numeral
hun
- one
Derived terms
- hun bak
- hun kʼáal
- hun pik
References
- Beltrán de Santa Rosa María, Pedro (1746) Arte de el idioma maya reducido a succintas reglas, y semilexicon yucateco (in Spanish), Mexico: Por la Biuda de D. Joseph Bernardo de Hogal, page 152: “Hun. Vno. 1.”
- Montgomery, John (2004) Maya-English, English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook, New York: Hippocrene Books, Inc., →ISBN, pages 58, 203