Page 259 - The Rough Guide Phrasebook - Egyptian Arabic

Pronunciation
Throughout this book, Arabic words have been transliterated HOW
into romanized form so that they can be read as though they
were English bearing in mind the notes on pronunciation
given below: THE
Vowels
a as in at
ā longer a as in car
ay as in say LANGUAGE
e as in bed
ee as in see
i as in bit
ī sounds like eye or like the ai in Thai
o as in hot
ō oa as in moan WORKS
ow as in now
Consonants
h is always pronounced, except in the following com-
binations: gh, kh and sh
j as in jam
j like the s in leisure ■ P r o n u n c i a t i o n
kh like the ch in the Scottish word loch
r strongly rolled r
s as in miss
When double consonants such as bb or mm occur, both letters
should be pronounced.
Capitals d, S, T and z are like d, s, t and z only more heavily
pronounced.
Special Sounds
A aargh sound, said from the throat, a heavy forced a
gh like a French r
h an emphatic h, said from the back of the throat
q similar to an emphatic pronunciation of ‘cu’ as in cut,
said from the back of the throat

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