Alpha privative

AnAlphaprivativeor, rarely,privative a(fromLatinAlpha prīvātīvum,fromAncient Greekα στερητικόν) is theprefixa-oran-(before vowels) that is used inIndo-European languagessuch asSanskritandGreekand in words borrowed therefrom to express negation or absence, for example the English words of Greek originatypical,anesthetic,andanalgesic.

It is derived from aProto-Indo-Europeansyllabic nasal *n̥-,the zeroablautgrade of the negation *ne,i.e. /n/ used as a vowel. For this reason, it usually appears asan-before vowels (e.g.an- Alpha betism,an-esthesia,an-archy).It shares the same root with the Greek prefixnē-orne-,in Greekνη-orνε-,that is also privative (e.g.ne-penthe).

It is not to be confused with, among other things, anAlpha copulative(e.g.a-delphós) or the prefixan-(i.e. the prepositionanáwithecthlipsisorelisionof its final vowel before a following vowel; e.g.an-ode).

Cognates

Sanskrit

The same prefix appears inSanskrit,also as अ-a-before consonants; and अन्-an-before vowels.

Latin

InLatin,thecognateprefix isin-,which leaves its traces in English words likeinvisibleandinaccessible.Theprepositionalprefixin-is unrelated.

Germanic languages

In English and otherWest Germanic languages,the cognate isun-(oron-).

InNorth Germanic languages,the -n- has disappeared andOld Norsehasú-(e.g.ú-dáins-akr),DanishandNorwegianhaveu-,whereasSwedishuseso-(pronounced [u]), andIcelandicandFaroeseuse the relatedó-.

Homonym

The prefixἁ-ha-(alsoἀ-a-frompsilosis),copulative a,is nearlyhomonymouswith privativea,but originates from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥.

See also

• Copulative a