Jûban

Jában is a Hungarian suffix sequence used in grammar to express “in his/her/its …” with a possessed noun. It is the combination of two smaller suffixes: the third-person singular possessive suffix -ja/-je and the locative suffix -ban/-ben. When these attach to a noun, they fuse into the single ending -jában or -jében, depending on the following vowel harmony and the chosen locative form. The resulting form marks location relative to the possessor of the noun.

In use, jában follows a noun that already carries the third-person possessive. The possessive suffix forms the noun into “his/her/its [noun],” and the locative suffix adds the meaning “in.” The linking consonant j appears as part of the possessive suffix and remains before the locative ending, producing spellings such as házában or könyvében. The exact spelling reflects Hungarian orthography and vowel harmony.

Examples illustrate the pattern:

- ház (house) with third-person possession: háza → házába n? actually háza + ban → házában = in his/her/its house.

- könyv (book) with third-person possession: könyve → könyvében = in his/her/its book.

- autó (car) with third-person possession: autója → autójában = in his/her/its car.

Jában is not a stand-alone word; it is a morpheme used in possessive-locative constructions. It appears across formal and everyday Hungarian whenever describing a location inside something owned by someone or something. The form can vary with the root’s ending and the corresponding possessive, but the underlying function remains to indicate “in … [his/her/its]” at the location level.