# Chuvash Turkic: AN : (not)



## ancalimon

Where did this form (AN : meaning something like "not")  enter Chuvash? Does anyone have an idea?  Is there a possible relation with English "UN"


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## sound shift

I think that's extremely unlikely in view of the lack of a genetic relationship between the two languages and the thousands of kilometres between the Chuvash-speaking area and any English-speaking area.


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## ancalimon

Persian maybe? or Proto-Germanic ?

I think Turkic languages should have "ma" at the end of verbs to make them negative.  I don't think it's possible to load a negative meaning to a word in Turkic (like holy-unholy ,  do-undo)


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## CapnPrep

ancalimon said:


> I think Turkic languages should have "ma" at the end of verbs to make them negative.


I don't know if they "should" or not, but Chuvash verbs *do* have -_mA- _after the stem to make them negative. According to this grammar, _an_ is only used to form negative imperatives in the 2nd and 3rd persons. Does this look like anything in Persian or Proto-Germanic to you?


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## er targyn

Mahmud Kashgari has aŋ "negative particle". Probably related.


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