Nunation
Nunation is the name for two different linguistic phenomena in Arabic and Hebrew .
Nunation in Arabic
The standard Arabic language knows two sets of noun endings: -u ( nominative ) , -i ( genitive ) , -a ( accusative ) for nouns in a certain status (determined by article or status constructus , i.e. genitive connection) and -un (nominative) , - in (genitive) , -an (accusative) for (triptotic) nouns in the indefinite status. The placement of this additional "n" s in indefinite nouns is called a nunation. The name, as well as the Arabic name tanwīn /تنوين, comes from the letter ن nūn .
Example:
- al-bābu - the door (determined)
- bābun - a door (indefinite)
In all modern Arabic dialects the case endings and with them the nunation have disappeared. In individual dialects that are spoken in the Tihama in Yemen , it serves as a sign of indetermination without naming the case. In the spoken high-level Arabic language, the use of case endings is optional and is considered a sign of particularly correct pronunciation.
In-written Arabic is the nunation is not now written, the usual sign of "N", but only in a few texts such as the Koran , by later introduced above or below the Rasm set additional characters : -an /ـً, -un /ـٌand -in /ـٍ.
Nunation in Hebrew
In (Old) Hebrew , the letter Nun is attached to verb forms. However, this has no grammatical meaning, but serves the euphony.
literature
- Werner Diem : Thoughts on the question of mimation and nunation in the Semitic languages . In: Journal of the German Oriental Society (ZDMG) . 125, 1975, pp. 239-258.