The Heavenly Decree — Page x
NN X at the beginning of a word, pronounced as a, i, u preceded by a very slight aspiration, like h in the English word 'honour'. th, pronounced like th in the English word 'thing'. h, a guttural aspirate, stronger than h. kh, pronounced like the Scotch ch in 'loch'. dh, pronounced like the English th in 'that'. ș, strongly articulated s. similar to the English th in 'this'. t, strongly articulated palatal t. 4, strongly articulated z. ', a strong guttural, the pronunciation of which must be learnt by the ear. 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. q, a deep guttural k sound. ', a sort of catch in the voice. ص ض ط ظ ع غ ق 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: ā for or (like a in 'father'); for or (like ee in 'deep');