-na

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-na is a Greenlandic suffix indicating a personal name. [1] [2]

1) It could be an inflection or a personal ending in the third person (una), which signifies that we are talking about her/him/it, possibly a contraction of "name una" = "this is name". [2]

2) The form could also very well have emerged from the demonstrative pronoun inna/innga as an honorific: "name+inna" = "it is name over there that we refer to", which through constant use wore down or became formalized to "name-na". [2]

3) It could also be the remnant of an old form of address -naaq = 'one who is' or 'one who resembles' (see also -naaq) [2]

There are a variety of derivative endings depending on the ending of the word added to:

  • -gana, -gina, -guna
  • -kana, -kina
  • -lina
  • -mina
  • -nana, -nina
  • -pina
  • -rana, -rina
  • -sina, -suna
  • -tina
  • -vana, -vina

List of Names with the suffix -na

  1. Submitted by Stine Larsen, Denmark
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Nuka Møller: Kalaallit aqqi (2015)