Middle East - Anthony Ham [564]
TRANSLITERATION
It’s worth noting here that transliterating from Arabic script into English is at best an approximate science. The presence of a number of sounds unknown in European languages, and the fact that the script is ‘incomplete’ (most vowel sounds are not written), combine to make it nearly impossible to settle on one method of transliteration. A wide variety of spellings are therefore possible for words when they appear in Roman script.
The matter is further complicated by the wide variety of dialects and the imaginative ideas Arabs themselves often have on appropriate spelling in, say, English. Words spelt one way in Egypt may look very different in Syria, which is heavily influenced by French. Not even the most venerable of Western Arabists have been able to come up with an ideal solution.
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PRONUNCIATION
Pronunciation of Arabic can be tongue-tying for someone unfamiliar with the intonation and combination of sounds. Much of the vocabulary in this language guide would be universally understood throughout the Arab world, although some of it, especially where more than one option is given, reflects regional dialects. For best results, pronounce the transliterated words slowly and clearly.
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HOW DO YOU SPELL THAT?!
While we have tried to standardise all spellings in this book there are some instances in which flexibility seemed to be more appropriate than consistency. For example, if two alternative transliterations for the same thing exist in different countries, we may go with both if it’s clear that these are the spellings any visitor to those countries will find on local maps and road signs.
Differences in spelling also arise through the same word having several variants in the different languages of the region – ’square’ in Arabic is traditionally transliterated as midan, but in Turkish it’s written maydan and in Persian meidun (or meidun-é; ’the square of’). Here lies great potential for confusion, as in the case with hamam, which is Turkish for the famed ’bathhouse’, but Arabic for ’pigeon’; if you’re looking for a good steam-cleaning, in Arabic you ask for a hammam, with the two syllables sounded distinctly.
We have also been forced to modify some spellings because of regional differences in Arabic pronunciation. The most obvious example of this occurs with the hard Egyptian sounding of the letter jeem, like the ’g’ in ’gate’, whereas elsewhere in the Arab world it’s a softer ’j’ as in ’jam’ – hence we have used both gadid and jadid (new), and gebel and jebel (mountain).
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THE STANDARD ARABIC ALPHABET
Vowels Not all Arabic vowel sounds are represented in the alphabet. For more information on the vowel sounds used in this language guide, see Vowels (Click here).
Emphatic Consonants To simplify the transliteration system used in this book, the emphatic consonants have not been included.
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Vowels
Technically, there are three long and three short vowels in Arabic. The reality is a little different, with local dialect and varying consonant combinations affecting their pronunciation. This is the case throughout the Arabic-speaking world. At the very least, five short and three long vowels can be identified:
a as in ‘had’
e as in ‘bet’
i as in ‘hit’
o as in ‘hot’
u as in ‘push’
aa as in ‘father’ or as a long pronunciation of the ‘a’ in ‘had’
ee as the ‘ea’ in ‘eagle’
00 as the ‘oo’ in ‘food’
Consonants
Pronunciation for all Arabic consonants is covered in the Arabic alphabet table (Click here). Note that when double consonants occur in transliterations, both are pronounced. For example, el-hammaam (toilet, bathhouse), is pronounced ‘el-ham-mam’.
Other Sounds
Arabic has two sounds that are very tricky for non-Arabs to produce, the ’ayn and the glottal stop. The letter ’ayn represents a sound with no English equivalent that comes even close. It is articulated from deep in the throat, as is the glottal stop (which is not actually represented in the alphabet), but the muscles at the back of the throat