The Guiding Light — Page xxiii
xvi Mirza Masroor Ahmad, Khalifatul Masih V aba. In transliterating Arabic words we have adopted the following system established by the Royal Asiatic Society. ا at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a , i , u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word honour. ث th , pronounced like th in the English word thing. ح h , a guttural aspirate, stronger than h. خ kh , pronounced like the Scotch ch in loch. ذ dh , pronounced like the English th in that. ص s , strongly articulated s. ض d , similar to the English th in this. ط t , strongly articulated palatal t. ظ z , strongly articulated z. ع ‘, a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear غ gh , a sound approached very nearly in the r grasseye in French, and in the German r. It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position whilst pronouncing it. ق q , a deep guttural k sound. ء ’, a sort of catch in the voice. Short vowels are represented by: a for (like u in bud ) i for (like i in bid ) u for (like oo in wood )