The letter nun ﻥ
The letter nun is a part of the the Arabic alphabet. Here you will learn how to pronounce and write nun.
How nun is pronounced
The Arabic letter nun is pronounced n just like in English.
In the phonetic alphabet, the pronunciation of nun is written [n]. On this website, I write the pronunciation n.
How nun is written
The letter nun has four shapes: isolated, initial, medial and final.
| final | medial | initial | isolerad |
|---|---|---|---|
| ـﻦ | ـﻨـ | ﻧـ | ﻥ |
Which of the shapes to use depends on the letter's position in the word and surrounding letters. Do not forget that Arabic is written from right to left.
The letter nun is dual joining. That means that it wants to connect to both right and left. If there is a letter before, that also is dual joining, then nun will connect with it. If there is a letter after, then nun will connect with it. How to write with Arabic dual joining letters.
nun isolerad form
This is how the Arabic letter nun is written in its isolerad form:
This form is used in the following situations:
nun alone
When nun stands by itself, the isolated form is used.
nun in the end after right joining letter
When nun is the last letter of a word and comes after a right joining letter, the isolated form is used. It is free to the right since the letter before it does not connect to the left. It is also free to the left since there is no letter after.
nun initial form
This is how the Arabic letter nun is written in its initial form:
This form is used in the following situations:
nun in the beginning of words
When nun is the first letter of a word, the initial form is used. It is free to the right and has a tail to the left to connect with the letter after it.
nun in the middle after right joining letter
When nun is in the middle of a word and follows a right joining letter, the initial form is used. It is free to the right since the letter before it does not connect to the left, and it has a tail to the left to connect with the letter after.
nun medial form
This is how the Arabic letter nun is written in its medial form:
This form is used in the following situation:
nun in the middle of words
When nun is in the middle of a word, e.g. when nun is neither the first nor the last letter, the medial form is often used. It has tails in both directions to connect with both the letter before it and the letter after it.
nun final form
This is how the Arabic letter nun is written in its final form:
This form is used in the following situation:
nun in the end of words
When nun is the last letter of a word, the final form is often used. It has a tail to the right to connect with the letter before it, and it is free to the left since there is no letter after.
Conclusion: how nun is written
The letter nun has four forms.
The isolated form ﻥ is used when nun stands by itself and in the end of words (after a right joining letter).
In other words: When there is no letter before that wants to connect and there is no letter after.
The initial form ﻧـ is used in the beginning of words and in the middle of words (if the letter before is right joining).
In other words: When there is no letter before that wants to connect and there is a letter after.
The medial form ـﻨـ is used in the middle of words (if the letter before is not right joining).
In other words: When there is a letter before that wants to connect and there is a letter after.
The final form ـﻦ is used in the end of words (if the letter before is not right joining).
In other words: When there is a letter before that wants to connect and there is no letter after.
That's it!
The rules you have learned can be applied to all Arabic dual joining letters, which is most of them.
nun is a sun letter
You get the definite form of a word by putting the definite article al in front of it.
The Arabic letter nun is a sun letter. That means that the l in al is assimilated with nun and thereby pronounced as n In other words: The definite article for words that start with nun is pronounced an, and not al.
For example the Arabic word for light is pronounced nuur and written ﻧُﻮﺭ. In definite form, it is pronounced annuur and written اَلﻧُﻮﺭ.
Read more about definite form