Ghunnah in Tajweed: The Nasal Sound and How Long to Hold It

Ghunnah in tajweed is the nasal sound that comes from the nose (al-khayshum) and lives in only two letters: nun (ن), including the nun sound of tanween, and meem (م). You hold it for two counts when either letter carries a shaddah and in idgham, iqlab and ikhfa. Everywhere else it is present but never stretched.

This guide explains where the ghunnah comes from, which ghunnah rules call for a full hum, how long to hold it and how the scholars of tajweed rank its strength, with real ayat to practise on. It is written for adults and older children who can already read the Arabic letters and want their recitation to sound right.

What is ghunnah in tajweed?

Ghunnah in tajweed is a nasal resonance built into the letters nun and meem. Tajweed books describe it as a sound built into the very body of these two letters, with the tongue playing no part in producing it. So the ghunnah is not a separate letter and not an extra you add on top. It is already inside every nun and meem, and the rules simply tell you when to let it ring out for its full length and when to keep it to a trace.

Where does the ghunnah come from?

The ghunnah comes from al-khayshum (الخَيْشُوم), the nasal passage that runs from the top of the nose back to where it meets the throat. In the seventeen-point scheme of articulation points taught in most tajweed courses, the khayshum is the last point and the only one that produces no letter of its own. The mouth still shapes the letter (the tongue for nun, the two lips for meem) while the sound travels out through the nose. Our guide to where every Arabic letter is born covers all five zones.

Which letters have ghunnah?

Only two letters carry a ghunnah: nun (ن, often spelt noon) and meem (م). Tanween counts too, because the doubled vowel signs (ـً ـٍ ـٌ) end in a nun sound even though no nun is written. When a nasal hum seems to sit on a ya, a waw or a ba, it is because a nun or meem just before it has merged into it or been hidden before it. The hum still belongs to the nun or meem.

How many counts is a ghunnah?

A full ghunnah is held for two counts (harakatan). One count is roughly the time it takes to fold or unfold a finger at an even, unhurried pace. The count is relative rather than a fixed number of seconds: slow recitation stretches every count a little and brisk recitation shrinks it, but the ghunnah keeps the same proportion. Two counts is also the length of the natural madd, so if you have studied the madd rules and their counts, you already know the feel of it. What matters most is consistency: a ghunnah on one line should match the ghunnah on the next.

Where you hold the ghunnah for two counts

Notice that the first two rows are about the letter itself, while the other five are about what happens when a resting nun or meem meets the next letter. Those five are taught in full in their own lessons: the four rules of nun sakinah and tanween and the three rules of meem sakinah. Here you only need the common thread. In all seven situations the ghunnah is held for the same two counts.

Where the ghunnah is present but not held

In two situations the ghunnah is there but you do not stretch it. The first is a nun or meem with a sukun pronounced clearly (izhar), as in أَنْعَمْتَ (1:7), where the nun meets an 'ayn and the meem meets a ta. The second is a nun or meem carrying a vowel, as in نَعْبُدُ (1:5). In both, the letter's natural nasal colour is heard for a moment and you move straight on. Some early authorities said the ghunnah vanishes completely in izhar, others that a trace remains; either way, nobody holds a hum there.

What are the levels of ghunnah?

The levels of ghunnah rank how full and strong the nasal sound is in each situation. Most contemporary tajweed teachers list five, from strongest to lightest. The scholars of tajweed have counted them differently (some listed three, others four) and differ on whether the merged or the hidden ghunnah is stronger, so treat the order of the middle levels as a teaching aid rather than a settled rule.

For daily recitation the five levels come down to one practical rule. Levels one to three are the complete ghunnah, so hold it for two counts every time. Levels four and five are the incomplete ghunnah: let the letter keep its natural nasal colour, but do not stretch it. The doubled letter sits at the top because a shaddah is a resting nun or meem merged into a voweled one of the same kind, so the resting half is held in the nose before the second half opens onto its vowel.

Ghunnah in the Qur'an: worked examples

Ghunnah in the Qur'an is easiest to hear in short ayat where several come close together, like these two from Juz 'Amma that many people already know by heart.

This one ayah (listen to it on quran.com) gives you three full ghunnahs. The meem of ثُمَّ has a shaddah, so hold the hum on it for two counts. The nun at the end of لَتُسْـَٔلُنَّ has a shaddah as well. Finally ٱلنَّعِيمِ begins with a doubled nun, because the lam of al- merges into the nun, which is a sun letter. Count each one on your finger: thumma, latus'alunna, 'anin-na'im, two counts apiece.

Here two kinds of full ghunnah sit side by side. إِنَّ opens with a doubled nun held for two counts. Then in ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ a resting nun meets a sin, one of the fifteen ikhfa letters, so the nun is hidden: the tip of the tongue does not press firmly onto the gum ridge, and the hum carries for two counts while your mouth gets ready for the sin. Both ghunnahs should come out the same length, even though they feel different in the mouth.

How do you pronounce ghunnah correctly?

You pronounce ghunnah correctly by sending the sound through your nose for the right length while your mouth holds the shape of the letter. These six steps take you from the bare sound to a clean ghunnah in real ayat, and each one takes only a few minutes.

Common ghunnah mistakes and how to fix them

Most ghunnah errors fall into two groups: too little, where the hum is clipped or missing, and too much, where it is stretched, spread into the vowels or added where it does not belong. English speakers tend to clip it, because nasal sounds in English are short: nobody holds the double n in dinner, and the habit carries straight over into إِنَّ.

The nose-pinch test doubles as a check. If you pinch your nose on a doubled nun and nothing changes, the ghunnah is missing. If the whole word sounds as though you have a cold, the hum has leaked into the vowels around it. Our guide to the most common tajweed mistakes covers the errors that tend to travel with this one.

Why does a two-count hum deserve this much care?

A ghunnah is a small sound, but it turns up on almost every line of the mushaf, so getting it right changes how your whole recitation sounds. Allah ('azza wa jall) told His Messenger ﷺ to recite with measure:

Measured recitation is unhurried and clear, and a clipped or skipped ghunnah is usually the first sign of rushing. If the hum feels awkward at first, take heart from what the Prophet ﷺ said about the learner who stumbles:

Going back over the same ayah until the ghunnah sits right is exactly the kind of effort this hadith describes. Because the ghunnah is a sound and not a symbol on the page, it is learned by ear: you recite, someone who can hear it corrects you, and you recite again. That is how tajweed has always been passed on. If you would like that kind of feedback, you can find a Qur'an or Arabic teacher of your choice and work through these examples together.