Qāʻidah Yassarnal - Qurʼān — Page 3
In transliterating Arabic words we have partly followed the system adopted 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 rgrasseye 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. ئ ’, 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 ) Long vowels by: a for or (like a in father ); i for ى or (like ee in deep ); u for و (like oo in root ); NOTE: A somewhat modified system of transliteration has been employed to represent long vowels within the actual exercises of the Q a ’idah Yassarnal-Qur’ a n, so as to differentiate between the sound of long vowels and the extra-long sound of maddah. This system is as follows: aa for ee for ى or (like ee in deep ); oo for و (like oo in root ); aaa/eee/ooo for ( maddah );