# chin-eni - חנני



## chaya

Can anyone please give me any information about the word Chin-eni spelled_  chet nun nun yod? *  Charming *_is the translation  that springs to mind but I have heard  ' _miserere'_   .I am not sure if this correct and also is there a difference in _nikkud (pronunciation) ?  _What exactly does _ miserere _ mean  (if it is correct)? 

Is it connected to _miserable _(FR) and _miserabile _(IT)? 
 English _miserable_ seems to be a_  faux-ami  _here.


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## Flaminius

Assuming that your word is חן, the pronunciation is chen.

Miserere, to my knowledge is not an English word.  The only miserere I know of is a conjugation of Latin verb _miseror_, to take pity.  Miserere is the imperative form of that verb.  I don't think חן can mean that.

A Hebrew idiom that looks like your question "chin-eni" is מוצא חן בעייניו (motse' chen be-`ejnaw).  Literally meaning find grace in his eyes, it is "He likes you."


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## chaya

Thanks Flaminius however I agree that 'miserere' seems just the opposite of 'chen.' so I don't understand why some sources gve it in translation.

Of course 'motse chen b'eynecha' is clear.

My quote comes from the last line of the refrain of the song 'Nad Ilan' which is - chet,nun,nun,yod pronounced CHI-NE-*NI. The 'chen' part *_is clear. _The _'*ni* ' _(to me) part is confusing as it seems illogical that someone should sing his own praises.  I even checked to see if it was a typo for Hine-ni  (here I am)  but no - it is definitely _chet ._


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## Nunty

Without vowels חנני and חנני look exactly the same. One of them will be _hinani_, which means "charming, delightful", and the other is honeni "have mercy on me!" The latter is the English translation of _miserere_.

I knew that one day it would come in handy to be an Israeli nun!


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## chaya

Thank you NT - that was brilliant. Perhaps you can tell me what is meant by 'MISERERE' . Is it a part of the Catholic liturgy?

The song refrain from NAD ILAN is definitely CHINANI 'Charming' etc. , therefore am I right in thinking that 'CHEN' is the noun (charming) which changes to an adjective 'CHINAN' plus suffix *I* (to me) to give CHINANI ?


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## Nunty

_Miserere_, as Flam (Latin forum moderator!) correctly indicated, is the imperative of the Latin word _miseror_, to pity. In the old Latin liturgy (still used at special times and places), the refrain _miserere nobis_ "have pity on us" is heard (in the _Agnus Dei_, for example), and one of the penitential psalms (I forget which one) is called "The Miserere", a holdover from the Vulgate Bible.

Yes, חן is the noun, but חנני is the adjective. It is not a possessive suffix. Someone who is better than I at grammar will have to explain the doubling of the final consonant.


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## bat777

Hi,
I can't help in explaining why the _n_ is doubled, but, knowing the song _nad ilan_, I can confirm that the word you have been discussing is indeed _chinani -_ an adjective which means "charming", "delightful". As Nun-Translator wrote, the suffix is not possessive, but is simply the adjective suffix. 
While thinking about it, I started wondering whether the suffix is in fact _i, _or is it really _ni_, which would explain the extra _n_. I thought of a few other examples from Hebrew of adjectives that are derived by this suffix:
ריח-ריחני
אדום-אדמוני
בורר-בררני
שם-שמני (משפט שמני)

In the examples above there are different bases (noun, adjective, verb) that are trasformed into adjectives with this suffix. I can't think of any generalization regarding base-derivation relationshio at the moment.


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## chaya

BAT777 -  RE CHIN-ENI

Toda raba and  "CHEN-CHEN-LACH" no pun intended.    Your comments were very helpful  ,especially the examples.  Are you a teacher? I find of course that the more 'advanced' my Hebrew knowledge - the more I don't know .


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## Flaminius

חנני, charming, seems to have been derived from חָנַן, to have mercy.  This verb follows the pa`al pattern, thereby requiring three consonants («1ā2a3»).

Some nouns with a doubled final consonant are not often recognised as having doubled letters.  However, the daggesh contained in the female or plural form serves as a give-away.


			
				  三省堂　『言語学大辞典』世界言語編 s.v. ヘブライ語 said:
			
		

> «1i22» šinn (tooth), libb (heart), ʼimm (mother); ḥiṭṭā (wheat), ʼiššā (woman), pinnā (horn)
> (these are "tentative base forms", forms before other phonological rules are applied)



For the paragraph below I am resorting to guesswork...
I would assume that חן follows the «1i22» pattern, just like libb --> lev.  As there is no plural form for חן, looking for the final nun with dagesh is useless.  The doubled final consonant for this pattern is often used as the third consonant for another pattern.  E.g., libb yields lēbāb after «1ē2ā3» pattern.  Therefore, it is not exorbitantly a bad idea to assume that חן was reinterpreted as having a triliteral root to make a verb.


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## Nunty

bat777 said:


> Hi,
> I can't help in explaining why the _n_ is doubled, but, knowing the song _nad ilan_, I can confirm that the word you have been discussing is indeed _chinani -_ an adjective which means "charming", "delightful". As Nun-Translator wrote, the suffix is not possessive, but is simply the adjective suffix.
> While thinking about it, I started wondering whether the suffix is in fact _i, _or is it really _ni_, which would explain the extra _n_. I thought of a few other examples from Hebrew of adjectives that are derived by this suffix:
> ריח-ריחני
> אדום-אדמוני
> בורר-בררני
> שם-שמני (משפט שמני)
> 
> In the examples above there are different bases (noun, adjective, verb) that are trasformed into adjectives with this suffix. I can't think of any generalization regarding base-derivation relationshio at the moment.



Hmmm... I think that in each of these examples, and also in חנני, we have a two-step process:
1. A noun that denotes a quality: charm, scent, red...
2. An adjective that refers to something/someone who possesses that quality: charming, scented, red...
If we are on the same track, the ני- suffix is what makes the step from (1) to (2).


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