Leksion Chamoru: The prefix an-

An- is used to indicate the leftovers or even refuse of whatever it's attached to. It usually indicates something that is almost useless. Here are a few examples:

• Kånno' = To eat.
  Ankånno' = Leftover food (to be thrown away).
  So ankånno' would indicate the stuff on your plate when you're completely through eating.
  
• Sopbla = Remains, left over, remainder.
  Ansopbla = Leftover of the remainder.
  Where sopbla is what's left over from something, ansopbla would mean the rubbish left over from whatever remained from another item.
• Bålle = To sweep.
  Anbålle = The remnents from sweeping.
  So anbålle is the stuff that's left over from sweeping, maybe fine dust.

The prefix forces the primary stress to fall on the first syllable. So, using the words given above:

• Ankånno => AN-cun-nu'
• Ansopbla => AN-sop-blah
• Anbålle => AN-ball-lee