Arabic

Letter

ـً • ‎(-an)

1. fatḥa tanwīn (فتحَة تنوين) or fatḥatān (فتحتان), a nunation (tanwīn (تنوين)) of the vowel a (ـَ - fatḥa), indicating the accusative case in Classical Arabic, usually used in combination with ا ‎(ʾalif) - (ـًا), unless it's ة ‎(tāʾ marbūṭa) (ةً) or ء ‎(hamza) (ءً). In a non-pausal formal situation it's pronounced as "-an". In dialects, relaxed (less formal) Arabic or in pausa, the pronunciation is either shorted to "-a" or ignored altogether, even when written (but ا ‎(ʾalif) must still be written, e.g. accusative of رجل rajul - رجلًا rajul(an)). The pronunciation "-an" is usually preserved in adverbial accusatives, e.g. شُكْرًا ‎(šukran), عَادَةً ‎(ʿādatan), etc. in dialects and informal Arabic.