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►II.7. NŪNATION DIACRITICS
Most Arabic words (in their full forms) end with a suffix –n(V), where V is a short vowel that is present only in dual and masculine sound plural substantives and non-finite verbs. In dual and masculine sound plural substantives and non-finite verbs the suffix –nV is written with the letter nȗn ن , and the short vowel following this letter may be indicated with a diacritic as usual. However, in singular substantives and non-finite verbs and in feminine sound plural substantives and non-finite verbs the suffix –n is almost unwritten, it is indicated only in the accusative case with a vowel-denoting ʔalif ا that represents the pausal pronunciation.
The following diacritics are used to indicate the suffix –n (called nūnation) in the different cases:
| Nūnation diacritics | |||
| Case | Letter with diacritic | Transliteration | Sound |
|
رَفْعٌ rafʕuṋ “raising” Nominative |
بٌ | buṋ | bun |
|
نَصْبٌ naṣbuṋ “erecting” Accusative |
بًاْ | baṋ | ban |
|
جَرٌ ǵarruṋ “dragging” Genitive |
بٍ | biṋ | bin |
Note: In the orthographic tradition of the Maghreb the accusative nūnation diacritics are placed on the ʔalif rather than the letter preceding it. Thus, they would write باً instead of بًا .
