N-

Abbreviation of nitrogen.

N-

1. (organic chemistry) the functional group that carries this prefix is attached to a nitrogen atom on the parent molecular segment

• N-tert-butyl-

• N (nitrogen)

Similar to processes found in a number of North Halmaheran languages.

N-

1. derives nouns from verbs

   ‎N- + ‎ahu (“to grow”) → ‎gahu (“a sprout”)

   ‎N- + ‎ciko (“crooked”) → ‎jiko (“corner, elbow, bay”)

   ‎N- + ‎fesa (“wet”) → ‎besa (“rain”)

   ‎N- + ‎hahe (“to pull in”) → ‎ngahe (“high tide”)

   ‎N- + ‎kuraci (“yellow”) → ‎guraci (“gold, turmeric”)

   ‎N- + ‎tolabane (“to take passage (on a boat, etc.)”) → ‎dolabane (“shipload”)

   ‎N- + ‎waje (“to say”) → ‎ngajengaje (“story”) (with reduplication)

2. increases the transitivity of a verb

   ‎N- + ‎ari (“to cry”) → ‎gari (“to mourn, to cry for”)

   ‎N- + ‎fahe (“to leak”) → ‎bahe (“to spread”)

   ‎N- + ‎firi (“to make way”) → ‎biri (“to take with”)

   ‎N- + ‎ise (“to hear”) → ‎gise (“to listen to”)

3. derives a verb from a verb

   ‎N- + ‎himo (“old, old person”) → ‎ngimo (“old”)

   ‎N- + ‎hohi (“to count (something)”) → ‎nyonyohi (“to heed (someone's) advice”)

   ‎N- + ‎pala (“to rise”) → ‎bala (“to float up”)

   ‎N- + ‎tero (“to make a hit”) → ‎dero (“to make a hit”)

4. derives a noun from a noun

   ‎N- + ‎hagi (“debt, claim”) → ‎nyagi (“debt”)

N- behaves differently depending upon the initial phoneme of the root it is applied to.

• initial consonants f and p become b
• initial consonant t becomes d
• initial consonant k becomes g
• initial consonant c becomes j
• initial consonant h, when deriving historically from *y, becomes ny
• initial consonants h (not from historical *y) and w become ng
• initial consonants b, d, g, j, l, m, n, ng, ny r, and s remain unchanged
• vowel-initial roots with an underlying glottal stop are prefixed with g
• vowel-initial roots with no underlying glottal stop remain unchanged

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
• Edward A. Kotynski (1995), “Glottal Stop and the Nasal Prefix in Tabaru and Other North Halmaheran Languages”, in Descriptive studies in languages of Maluku, Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya