DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36287#0169
SYSTEM OF TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL NAMES
TN order to render accurately the geographical names
JL and some technical terms used by the natives of
the regions which were visited by this Expedition, it
has been necessary to adopt a system of phonetic
transliteration in which the oriental sounds are repre-
sented by Latin characters with certain additional
marks.
The modern pronunciation has always been taken
as a base. In most cases Dr. Littmann heard the
names directly from the natives; in some the drago-
man transmitted them after having obtained them
from the natives, and whenever, in these cases, it was
impossible to verify such forms, absolute correctness
may not have been reached. In a few cases Dr. Litt-
mann did not hear the names from either the natives
or the dragoman: these names are given in the form
in which they were heard by the other members of
the Expedition, or their spelling has been fixed accord-
ing to information from literary sources.
A few dialectic variations in the modern pronuncia-
tion have been neglected for the sake of uniformity;
namely, with regard to the sounds <%/, and the fem-
inine ending The sound A is in some parts of
Syria and Palestine, chiefly along the seashore and in
the large cities, ordinarily pronounced like the French
y' (in ybw); the has become ' (glottal catch) in the
same regions; the feminine ending is pronounced a, ^
(a short closed A and 7 (a short closed 7).
The system followed in these publications is in the
main the same as the one recommended by the Inter-
national Congress of Orientalists at Geneva and used
in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. A few
minor changes, however, have been necessary.
The list of consonants given below follows the order
of the Arabic alphabet; for those who are not familiar
with these sounds a few explanatory remarks have
been added.
(1) ' The first letter of the Arabic alphabet,
representing the glottal catch. It is
omitted here at the beginning of words.
(2) A ' i? r )
; f ) ihe same as m hnmish.
(3) ; j
(4) The voiceless English (in 7*^777^*, wz'/Z:).
(5)
A
(6)
%
(7)
/V
(8)
7/
(9)
a^
(10)
7'
(11)
(12)
^ f
(i3)
(i4)
(is)
<7
(16)
7*
(i7)
(18)
(19)
^7
(20)
/
(2:)
7-
(22)
E
(23)
/
(24)
777
(25)
77 (-
(26)
7^
(27)
W
(28)
A
The soft English ^ (in ^777*7%
A harsh laryngeal A.
The Swiss (in T^aa/h?).
The same as in English.
The voiced English (in
The rolled Scotch 7*.
The same as in English.
So-called emphatic sounds, articulated at
the upper gums.
('<3777), voiced laryngeal sound, produced
with the help of the false chords.
A voiced guttural sound, nowadays often
pronounced like the guttural 7^ (r ^*7'ay-
The same as in English.
A guttural/f, articulated at the soft palate.
The same as the corresponding English
sounds (7, however, ordinarily more like
the German /).
In the feminine ending-a/%,the ^ is not sounded,
but is used here to indicate the syllabic character and
to render the Arabic % (now silent).
Vowels without accents are short. Vowels with the
circumflex accent (a) <?, 7, a, 77) are long and bear the
accent. Vowels with long marks (a, f, 7, a, 77) are
mostly originally long, but not accentuated; they are
commonly shortened, but their character as closed
vowels is not lost.
The accent of a word lies on the first long syllable
counting backward from the end of the word; this
length may be either by nature (a, a, etc.), or by posi-
tion (doubly closed syllable). If there is no long syl-
lable in a word, or if the last syllable is long without
having the accent (a, f, etc.), the accent goes back as
far as possible, e. g. Z/a777a.
143
TN order to render accurately the geographical names
JL and some technical terms used by the natives of
the regions which were visited by this Expedition, it
has been necessary to adopt a system of phonetic
transliteration in which the oriental sounds are repre-
sented by Latin characters with certain additional
marks.
The modern pronunciation has always been taken
as a base. In most cases Dr. Littmann heard the
names directly from the natives; in some the drago-
man transmitted them after having obtained them
from the natives, and whenever, in these cases, it was
impossible to verify such forms, absolute correctness
may not have been reached. In a few cases Dr. Litt-
mann did not hear the names from either the natives
or the dragoman: these names are given in the form
in which they were heard by the other members of
the Expedition, or their spelling has been fixed accord-
ing to information from literary sources.
A few dialectic variations in the modern pronuncia-
tion have been neglected for the sake of uniformity;
namely, with regard to the sounds <%/, and the fem-
inine ending The sound A is in some parts of
Syria and Palestine, chiefly along the seashore and in
the large cities, ordinarily pronounced like the French
y' (in ybw); the has become ' (glottal catch) in the
same regions; the feminine ending is pronounced a, ^
(a short closed A and 7 (a short closed 7).
The system followed in these publications is in the
main the same as the one recommended by the Inter-
national Congress of Orientalists at Geneva and used
in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. A few
minor changes, however, have been necessary.
The list of consonants given below follows the order
of the Arabic alphabet; for those who are not familiar
with these sounds a few explanatory remarks have
been added.
(1) ' The first letter of the Arabic alphabet,
representing the glottal catch. It is
omitted here at the beginning of words.
(2) A ' i? r )
; f ) ihe same as m hnmish.
(3) ; j
(4) The voiceless English (in 7*^777^*, wz'/Z:).
(5)
A
(6)
%
(7)
/V
(8)
7/
(9)
a^
(10)
7'
(11)
(12)
^ f
(i3)
(i4)
(is)
<7
(16)
7*
(i7)
(18)
(19)
^7
(20)
/
(2:)
7-
(22)
E
(23)
/
(24)
777
(25)
77 (-
(26)
7^
(27)
W
(28)
A
The soft English ^ (in ^777*7%
A harsh laryngeal A.
The Swiss (in T^aa/h?).
The same as in English.
The voiced English (in
The rolled Scotch 7*.
The same as in English.
So-called emphatic sounds, articulated at
the upper gums.
('<3777), voiced laryngeal sound, produced
with the help of the false chords.
A voiced guttural sound, nowadays often
pronounced like the guttural 7^ (r ^*7'ay-
The same as in English.
A guttural/f, articulated at the soft palate.
The same as the corresponding English
sounds (7, however, ordinarily more like
the German /).
In the feminine ending-a/%,the ^ is not sounded,
but is used here to indicate the syllabic character and
to render the Arabic % (now silent).
Vowels without accents are short. Vowels with the
circumflex accent (a) <?, 7, a, 77) are long and bear the
accent. Vowels with long marks (a, f, 7, a, 77) are
mostly originally long, but not accentuated; they are
commonly shortened, but their character as closed
vowels is not lost.
The accent of a word lies on the first long syllable
counting backward from the end of the word; this
length may be either by nature (a, a, etc.), or by posi-
tion (doubly closed syllable). If there is no long syl-
lable in a word, or if the last syllable is long without
having the accent (a, f, etc.), the accent goes back as
far as possible, e. g. Z/a777a.
143