Nun letter: Encyclopedia II - Nun letter - Hebrew Nun

Nun letter - Hebrew Nun

Nun letter - Pronunciation

Nun is pronounced as a alveolar nasal consonant, (IPA: /n/), like the English letter N.

Nun letter - Variations

Nun, like Kaph, Mem, Pe, and Tzadi, has a final form, used at the end of words. Its shape changes from this: נ to this: ן.

Nun letter - Significance

In gematria, Nun represents the number 50. Its final form represents 700 but this is rarely used, Tav and Shin (400+300) being used instead.

Nun as an abbreviation can stand for neqevah, feminine. In medieval Rabbinic writings, Nun Sophit (Final Nun) stood for "Son of" (Hebrew ben or ibn).

Nun is also one of the seven letters which receive a special crown (called a tagin) when written in a Sefer Torah. See Shin, Ayin, Teth, Gimmel, Zayin, and Tzadi.

In modern Israeli slang, the word Nun has come to mean "failure" (from Hebrew Nichshal, he lost).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Hebrew Nun", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki