Understanding Islam — Page xiii
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 ḥ , 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 ṣ , strongly articulated s. ض ḍ , similar to the English th in ‘this. ’ ط ṭ , strongly articulated palatal t. ظ ẓ , strongly articulated z. ع ’ a strong gutteral, 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: