NPR Pronounciation Guide
People and Places in the Iraq War

People & Places

al-Kut     ahl KUUT
Basra     BAHS-rah
Dohuk     doh-HUUK
Faw     FOW
Harir     hah-REER
Iraq     ih-RAHK
Karbala     KAR-bah-lah
Kirkuk     keer-KUUK
Mosul     MOH-suhl
Najaf     NAH-jahf
Nasiriyah     nah-sih-REE-ah
Qatar     KAH-tahr
Safwan     SAHF-wahn
Sulaymaniyah     soo-lay-meh-NEE-ah
Tikrit     tih-KREET
Umm Qasr     uum KAH-ser
Tarik Aziz     TAH-rihk ah-ZEEZ
Saddam Hussein     sah-DAHM hoo-SAYN
Uday Hussein     oo-DAY hoo-SAYN
Qusay Hussein    koo-SAY hoo-SAYN


Pronunciation Key

Vowel Sounds:

a -- apple, bat
ah -- father, hot
ai -- air, pair
aw -- law, long
ay -- ace, fate
e -- bed
eh -- merry
ee -- see, tea
ih -- pin, middle
oh -- go, oval
oo -- blue, two
ow -- ouch, cow
oy -- boy
uu -- foot, put
uh -- puff
ur -- burden, curl
y, eye -- ice, time


Consonants:

g -- got, beg
j -- gem, job
k -- cap, keep
ch -- chair
hh -- strongly aspirated "h" in Arabic
kh -- gutteral "k"
s -- see, citrus
sh -- shut
z -- zoo
zh -- mirage


In Depth

• Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the way politicians and journalists are pronouncing place names associated with the war on Iraq.


Other Resources

• Department of Defense Dictionary of Military Terms

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