अं
/əⁿ/ aṃ
=============
(ं) nasal utterance called अनुस्वार and written as a dot above the vowel preceding it. cf. स्वरमनु संलीनं शब्द्यते इति; it is pronounced after a vowel as immersed in it. The anusvāra is considered -
as only a nasalization of the preceding vowel being in a way completely amalgamated with it. cf. T. Pr. V. 11,31; XV. 1; XXII. 14 ;
as a nasal addition to the preceding vowel, many times prescribed in grammar as nuṭ (नुट्) or num (नुम्) which is changed into anusvāra in which case it is looked upon as a sort of a vowel, while, it is looked upon as a consonant when it is changed into a cognate of the following consonant (परसवर्ण) or retained as n (न्). cf. P. VIII.4.58;
as a kind cf consonant of the type of nasalized half g(ग्) as described in some treatises of the Yajurveda Prātiśākhya: cf also R. Pr.1.22 V.Pr.14.148-9. The vowel element of the anusvāra became more prevalent later on in Pali, Prkrit, Apabhraṁśa and in the spoken modern languages while the consonantal element became more predominant in classical Sanskrit.