nn

See also: Appendix:Variations of "nn"

Translingual

Symbol

nn

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Norwegian Nynorsk.

English

Adverb

nn (not comparable)

1. (Philippines, Singapore) Alternative form of NN (“noon”).

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nɛn/
  • Conventional anglicization: nen

Etymology 1

Pronoun

 proximal demonstrative pronoun

1. this, that
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 149–150:

     ꜥḥꜥ.n sbt.n.f jm.j m nn ḏd.n.j m nf m jb.f ḏd.f n.j (j)n wr n.k ꜥntjw ḫpr.t(j) ⟨m⟩ nb sntr

     Then he laughed at me – and at this that I’d said – as being wrong to his mind, saying to me: Are you abundant in myrrh, turned into a lord of incense?

Usage notes

This demonstrative is a pronoun, and so does not directly modify nouns. In Middle Egyptian it becomes used as a demonstrative for plural nouns in place of the old adjectives jpn and jptn. When used in this way, it precedes the noun, with the genitival adjective n(j) in between, e.g. "these feet" is nn n(j) rdw (literally "this of feet").

It forms a contrastive pair with the demonstrative pronoun nf, in which nn is proximal.

Inflection

Old Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners						pronouns1	adverbs
number	singular		dual		plural		unmarked
gender	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal to speaker	pn	tn	*jpnj	jptnj, jptntj	jpn	jptn	nn	—
distal	pf	tf	*jpfj	*jptfj, *jptftj	jpf	jptf	nf	—
proximal to spoken of	pj, pw, p	tj, tw	jpwj	jptwj, jptwtj	jpw	jptw, jptwt	nw	—
vocative	pꜣ	tꜣ	—	—	—	—	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Unmarked for number and gender, but treated syntactically as masculine plurals when used with participles and relative forms, and as feminine singulars when referred to by resumptive pronouns.

Middle Egyptian demonstratives

	determiners and pronouns			adverbs
number	singular		plural1
gender	masculine	feminine	unmarked
proximal	pn	tn	nn	ꜥn
distal	pf, pfꜣ	tf, tfꜣ	nf, nfꜣ	ꜥf
‘copula’ and vocative	pw, pwy	tw, twy	nw	—
anaphoric	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ	ꜥꜣ
Joined by n(j) to nouns they modify.

Late Egyptian demonstratives and articles

	masculine	feminine	plural		adverb
pronoun	pꜣw				dj
determiners and pronouns	pꜣj	tꜣj	nꜣj
possessive determiners1	pꜣy	tꜣy	nꜣy
relational pronouns (‘possessive prefixes’)	p-n, pꜣ	t-nt, tꜣ	nꜣyw, nꜣ
definite articles	pꜣ	tꜣ	nꜣ2
indefinite articles	wꜥ2		nhꜣy2
Used with suffix pronouns. Originally joined by n(j) to nouns they modify; later without it.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nn  

nn

Etymology 2

Oréal hypothesizes an origin in a contraction of nj (negative particle) +‎ wn (“exists”), following Vergote and rejecting an earlier hypothesis by Osing and Loprieno that would suggest an origin in nj (negative particle) +‎ jn.

Particle

 proclitic

1. (since Middle Egyptian, with a following noun or pronoun) there is no, there are no; introduces an independent negated existential clause
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 99–101:

     wꜥ jm nb mꜥkꜣ jb.f nḫt ꜥ.f r snnw.f nn wḫꜣ m ḥr(j) jb.sn

     Each one of them, his mind was more observant and his arm was stronger than his fellow’s. There was no fool in their midst.

   • c. 1859 BCE – 1813 BCE, The Loyalist Teaching (Stele of Sehetepibre/Cairo CG 20538 Verso) line 19:

     nn jz n sbj ḥr ḥm.f jw ẖꜣt.f m qmꜣ n mw

     There is no tomb for a rebel against His Majesty; his corpse is thrown to the water.

2. (since Middle Egyptian, with a following noun or pronoun) without; there not being any …; introduces a subordinated negated existential clause
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 6–8:

     jzwt.n jj.t(j) ꜥd.t(j) nn nhw n mšꜥ.n

     Our crew has returned intact, without loss to our expedition.

3. (since Middle Egyptian) not; negates an adverbial or adjectival sentence
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 130–131:

     ḫpr.n r.s nn wj ḥnꜥ(w) ꜣm.nj nn wj m ḥr(j) jb.sn

     But it happened while I wasn’t with them, and they burned up while I wasn’t in their midst.

4. (since Middle Egyptian) not; negates a subjunctive main clause with future meaning
5. (since Middle Egyptian, uncommon) not; negates a nominal sentence [since the 12th Dynasty]
6. (since Middle Egyptian, used without anything negated following) or not; contrasts with a preceding clause or phrase

Usage notes

• When negating an adverbial or adjectival sentence, this particle stands near the beginning of the negated sentence, before the subject, but it can be preceded by other particles. It is followed by a nominal subject, a demonstrative pronoun, or a dependent pronoun as subject.

• When (exceptionally) negating a nominal sentence, this particle either pairs with the particle js like the ordinary negative particle for nominal sentences, nj, or simply stands by itself at the beginning of the sentence.

Derived terms

• nn zp

Descendants

• >? Late Egyptian: bn

Further reading

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 54–55, 194, 414.
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN

Irish

Pronunciation

1. IPA^(key): /n̪ˠ/, /n̠ʲ/

Letter

nn (upper case Nn)

1. A digraph in Irish orthography

Italian

Adverb

nn

1. (Internet slang, text messaging, slang) Abbreviation of non (“not”).

Japanese

Romanization

nn

1. Rōmaji transcription of んー

Portuguese

Adverb

nn

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative form of n (“not”)

Noun

nn m (uncountable)

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative form of n (“no”)

Interjection

nn

1. (Internet slang, text messaging) Alternative form of n (“no”)