Contionary:eun

Carichendan

Etymology

From Old Carichendan *sineun, from Proto-Coelo-Caric *sinɔn, from Proto-Sinos-Koelic *sɪnʊ. Cognate to Silōs silōs ("one", "sole"), Sinushyeinametiniq sinüss ("one").
The Old Carichendan word also yielded sin, and the development which led to these two forms is uncertain and involved a dichotomy of function between a numeral and an indefinite article. There are at least four possibilities:

• Syllable deletion due to premodifier-postmodifier dichotomy (*sineun ... > *sin ...; *... sineun > *... eun)
• Reduct syncope due to premodifier-postmodifier dichotomy (*sineun ... > *sin(n) ...; *... sineun > *... (sin-)eun > *... eun)
• Reduct syncope due to weak form-strong form dichotomy (*sineun ... > *sin(n) ...; *... sineun > *... (sin-)eun > *... eun)
• Completion of reduct mutation due to weak form-strong form dichotomy (*sineun ... > *sieun ... > *sin ...; *... sineun > *... (sin-)eun > *... eun)

Reduct syncope presently seems most likely. The change of *sineun > *(sin-)eun represents a reanalysis of *sineun as a compound containing *sin once *sin appeared as a contrastive word.

Pronunciation

• (Central) IPA: /ɵn/
• (Northern) IPA: /ʊn/

Numeral

eun

1. one

See also

• sin