Star of the Empress — Page 21
21 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 ’) Long vowels by: a for or آ (like a in ‘ father ’); i for ی or (like ee in ‘ deep ’); u for و (like oo in ‘ root ’); Other: ai for ی (like i in ‘ site ’); au for و (resembling ou in ‘ sound ’) The consonants not included in the above list have the same phonetic value as in the principal languages of Europe. Curved commas are used in the system of transliteration, ‘ for ع , ’ for ء. We have not transliterated Arabic words which have become part of English language, e. g. , Islam, Quran, Hadith, Mahdi, jihad, Ramadan, ummah, etc. The Royal Asiatic Society rules of transliteration for names of persons, places and other terms, could not be followed throughout the book as many of the names contain non-Arabic characters and carry a local transliteration and pronunciation style which in itself is also not consistent either.