Nun sakinah and tanwin
- Nun sakinah is a nun without a vowel: مِنْ، عَنْ، أَنْعَمْتَ.
- Tanwin is the doubled vowel at the end of a noun (ـٌ ـً ـٍ). It is pronounced as a nun sakinah: عَلِيمٌ = ʿalīmun.
Because they sound the same, the same four rules apply to both, depending on the next letter: izhar, idgham, iqlab and ikhfa'. This lesson starts with izhar.
What is izhar?
Iẓhār means "making clear". The nun is pronounced clearly from its own makhraj, and you move straight on to the next letter without lengthening the nasal sound.
The letters of izhar
The six throat letters:
- ء ه ع ح غ خ
Izhar happens within one word (يَنْأَوْنَ، مِنْهُمْ) and across two words (مَنْ آمَنَ، عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ).
Why izhar?
The throat letters are far away from the tip of the tongue where nun is made. Because of this distance there is no reason to merge or hide the nun.
How it sounds
Touch the tip of the tongue to the gum behind the upper teeth, say a short, clean "n" and continue straight to the throat letter. The natural ghunnah that every nun has remains, but it is not stretched.
Typical mistakes
- Stretching the ghunnah ("minnnn ḥ…") as if it were ikhfa'.
- Pausing or adding a vowel after the nun: "mina-khawf".
- With tanwin, swallowing the n completely: "ʿadhābu-alīm".
- Weak throat letters after the nun, especially ع and ح.
Practice tip
Read slowly: مِنْ خَوْفٍ – عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ – مَنْ آمَنَ. Put a finger on your nose: with izhar you should feel only a short vibration, not a long hum.