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    -en
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    The suffix -en is one of the two infinitival suffixes in Frisian. One of its functions is to transpose verbs into nouns. An example is skriuwe to write > skriuwen writing. An interesting difference from Dutch is the fact that not only pure action nouns are derived, but that in some cases these can be individualized. Examples are lêze to read > lêzen something to read or trouwe to marry > trouwen marriage. All these nouns have neuter gender and do not allow plurals.

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    [+]Transposition from verb to noun

    Frisian has two infinitives, one ending in -e and and the other ending in -en. In the part on verbal inflection these are dubbed infinitive I and infinitive II. The infinitives obey a strict distribution, depending on syntactic context, as is described in the section infinitive of the topic on general categories of verbal inflection. Monosyllabic verbs like sjen to see or gean to go are the exception: their infinitive invariably ends in -n. For monosyllabic verbs, see strong inflection - monosyllabic verbs.

    If a verb is transposed to a noun, which in the unmarked case is an action noun, it always has the ending -en. The gender of the noun is neuter, as can be detected from the selection of the neuter definite article it or the neuter demonstrative pronoun dat. Hence, we have it rinnen the walking or dat riden that skating. As can be seen from these examples, the occurrence of -en is independent of the existence of the two weak inflectional classes in Frisian: it can be attached to verbs that have their infinitive I ending in -e and in -je alike. The nominalized infinitive can occur in various syntactic configurations; see complementation of infinitival Noun Phrases (NPs) for an impression.

    [+]Semantic specialisation

    A difference from Dutch is the fact that Frisian shows more semantic specialization in these nominal infinitives. Possibly, this is an effect of the circumstance that the language has this special infinitive -en for nominal contexts, and/or this suffix is used quite frequently for such contexts, at the cost of other suffixes, like -ing. To illustrate this, Frisian and Dutch are put side by side in this section. The first examples are:

    1
    a. Sy hat yn har trouwen net folle wille hân
    she has in her marrying not much fun had
    She has not had much fun during her marriage
    [Frisian]
    a.' Zij heeft tijdens haar huwelijk niet veel lol gehad
    she has while her marriage not much fun had
    She has not had much fun during her marriage
    [Dutch]
    2
    a. Der wie fan 'e moarn dopen yn tsjerke
    there was this morning baptising in church
    They baptised this morning during the church service
    [Frisian]
    a.' Er werden vanochtend in de kerk kinderen gedoopt
    there were this morning in the church children baptised
    This morning children were baptised in the church
    [Dutch]

    In the corresponding examples, Dutch rather uses a noun or a different verbal description.

    Frisian also allows for the nominalisations dwaan doing, sizzen saying and kommen coming, while in Dutch a different expression has to be used. Examples are:

    3
    a. Sok dwaan mei ik net oer
    such doing may I not over
    I do not like this kind of behaviour
    [Frisian]
    a.' Van zulk gedrag houd ik niet
    of such behaviour love I not
    I do not like this kind of behaviour
    [Dutch]
    4
    a. Syn sizzen wie dat de ierde plat wie
    his saying was that the earth flat was
    He said that the earth was flat
    [Frisian]
    a.' Hij zei dat de aarde plat was
    he said that the earth flat was
    He said that the earth was flat
    [Dutch]
    5
    a. Har kommen joech in soad trelit
    her coming caused a lot of commotion
    Her appearance caused a lot of commotion
    [Frisian]
    a.' Haar komst bracht veel tumult met zich mee
    her coming brought much commotion with its with
    Her appearance caused a lot of commotion
    [Dutch]

    Furthermore, in a number of cases the suffix -en can be used to form object nouns. The most important are:

    Table 1
    Infinitive I Infinitive II as object noun
    ite to eat iten food
    drinke to drink drinken drink(s)
    fretten to feed fretten fodder
    struie to scatter struien litter
    lêze to read lêzen reading matter
    naaie to sew naaien needlework
    breidzje to knit breidzjen knitting
    strike to iron striken clothes for ironing; ironed clothes
    ôfwaskje to wash the dishes ôfwaskjen dishes

    In such cases, Dutch usually takes recourse to the usual instruments of word formation, like compounding or conversion:

    6
    a. Hast wol wat lêzen mei foar ûnderweis?
    [Frisian]
    have.you well what reading with for on.the.way
    Have you brought something to read for on the way?
    b. Heb je wel wat leesvoer mee voor onderweg?
    [Dutch]
    have you well what reading-matter with for on.the.way
    Have you brought something to read for on the way?
    7
    a. Der stie fan in wike ôfwaskjen op it oanrjocht
    [Frisian]
    there stood of a week dish-washing on the sink
    There were dirty dishes of one week on the sink
    b. Er stond afwas van een week op het aanrecht
    [Dutch]
    there stood dish-washing of a week on the sink
    There were dirty dishes of one week on the sink

    Finally, Frisian nominal infinitives with -en may be used in a construction with the preposition op on:

    8
    a. op besjen
    on looking
    for your perusal
    b. op prebearjen
    on trying
    on trial
    c. op ôfbeteljen
    on part-paying
    on hire purchase

    Again, Dutch uses full nouns here, as in op zicht for your perusal or op afbetaling on hire purchase.

    [+]Phonological properties

    The suffix is basically pronounced as [ən]. Mostly, however, /n/ becomes syllabic, after deletion of the schwa (more information in syllabic sonorant consonants). As the suffix is pronounced with a schwa, it bears no stress, and suffixation with -en does not alter the stress pattern of the base.

    [+]Morphological potentials

    Nouns in -en do not allow a plural: skriuwen writing > *skriuwens writing-PL). An exception is the lexicalized form oantinken souvenir > oantinkens souvenirs. Nor can the derivations constitute the first part of a compound: ôfbeteljen part-paying > *ôfbeteljensysteem part-paying-system hire purchase system. However, lexicalized exceptions exist, as in frisdrinkensflesse soft-drink-LINK-bottle soft drink bottle, with a linking element -s-.

    extra
    Construction der is gjin ....sein oan

    There is another notable exception to the rule that these nouns cannot be the first part of a compound. This concerns the idiomatic construction der is gjin ....sein oan there is no ...-LINK-end on there's no end to ..., where -s- is a linking element. An example is this:

    i
    Der is gjin trochkommensein oan
    there is no through.coming-LINK-end on
    It is impossible to get through

    According to Hoekstra (1998:116) this construction is possibly a contamination of der is gjin .... oan there is no....on, with a nominal infinitive, and der is gjin ein oan there is no end on, with the noun ein end.

    extra
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    Literature

    The main source for this topic is Hoekstra (1998:116-117). The author claims in Hoekstra (1990:282-283) that the suffix -en effects a sheer transposition to a noun.

    References
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1990Adjectiefnominalisatie in het FriesInterdisciplinair Tijdschrift voor Taal- en tekstwetenschap9273-285
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1998Fryske wurdfoarmingLjouwertFryske Akademy
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1998Fryske wurdfoarmingLjouwertFryske Akademy
    About this article
    Author(s): Siebren Dyk, Truus de Vries
    Category: Frisian Morphology
    Keywords: suffixaction noun
    Version: ,
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