Elucidation of Objectives — Page viii
viii out in full, but they should nevertheless, be understood as being repeated in full in each case. It should be noted that in transliterating Arabic words we have followed the following 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 r ‘ grasseye ’ in French, and in the German r. It requires the muscles of the throat to be in the ‘gargling’ position whilst pronounc- ing it. ق q , a deep guttural k sound. ئ ’, a sort of catch in the voice.