تَنْوِين
tanwin
Nunation (tanwin)
I'rab · i'rabI'rab marker (alama)advanced term76+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Tanween · Nunation · Double vowel endings
In one line
Nunation (tanwin)
Classical definition
التَّنْوِينُ نُونٌ سَاكِنَةٌ تَلْحَقُ آخِرَ الاسْمِ لَفْظًا وَوَصْلًا، وَتُفَارِقُهُ خَطًّا وَوَقْفًا.
(شذا العرف)
What it is
Tanwin is the doubled-vowel ending — the -un / -an / -in sound — written as two short vowels on the last letter of a noun. It marks the noun as indefinite (“a book,” not “the book”), and it disappears the moment the noun takes the article الْ or becomes the first part of an idafa. It is the single most common signal of i'rab in the Qur'an.
Related terms
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From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.