Amn't
Am not. The Hiberno-English contraction of 'am not' that fills the gap left by standard English's missing first-person-singular negative contraction. 'Amn't I right?' = 'am I not right?' Distinct from the awkward standard English 'aren't I?' which uses the wrong person.
Etymology
Constructed in parallel with 'isn't', 'aren't', 'wasn't' on the regular contraction pattern. Standard English has no first-person-singular equivalent: 'I am not' contracts to 'I'm not' but not to 'I amn't'. The Hiberno-English form follows the regular rule the standard English speech avoided. The result is a logically consistent contraction that English-elsewhere replaced with the agreement-broken 'aren't I'.
In a sentence
"I'm right, amn't I? - tell me I'm right."
Historical notes
Amn't is one of the small Hiberno-English grammatical features that show the dialect being more internally consistent than the standard. Where standard English speakers say 'aren't I?' (which is grammatically broken - 'aren't' agrees with second/third person, not first), Hiberno-English speakers say 'amn't I?' with the correct first-person agreement. Schoolteachers sometimes correct Irish students for using 'amn't'; in fact the construction is the more grammatical of the two options.
Sources
- Filppula, Markku. The Grammar of Irish English. Routledge, 1999. · academic