Iraq - How do you say it?

QuikSand · 10-29-2003, 08:09 AM

Americans seem to have an oddly perplexing time agreeing on how to transliterate names of foreign places. With Iraq being in the news so much -- even our journalists can't agree on how this four-lettered one ought to be pronounced. Our politicians ... oh, good heavens, I hope nobody's looking to them for leadership here.

How do YOU pronounce the country of our latest and ongoing military engagement?

Hands to the Face · 10-29-2003, 08:13 AM

Although I've heard it pronounced "eye rack" in numerous contexts, I believe that the correct pronounciation is "eee rock."

Of course, we can't even agree on how to spell "Al Queda" or "Osama". . .

Fritz · 10-29-2003, 08:14 AM

ear-ock would be the closest

am I the only person the break the sylables after the "r"?

Dutch · 10-29-2003, 08:16 AM

How do you pronounce it? Then we don't need to take the poll...

QuikSand · 10-29-2003, 09:36 AM

I really don't know to what extent there is a "right" answer. Are American English speakers obliged to use the preferred inflections of the native language? We bastardize so many things as we absorb them into our own language, is there really a "rule" here?

I think that the supposedly "correct" pronunciation is what I tried to represent above as ee-ROCK. I've heard intellectuals essentialy argue that there really isn't such a sount as the "a" we Americans use in words like "dad" and "cat" in other languages-- that the "a" is almost universally prunounced like in the words "yacht" or "bra." But, then, what of a place name like Afghanistan -- which is almost universially pronounced by even "highly cultured" Americans with three very American-sounding short a sounds?

I think that most politicians, even cultured ones, probably deliberately try to avoid sounding too effette here, and stick with the more common EYE-RACK or even uh-RACK pronouncitations. Newscasters have a choice to make -- go by the book and risk sounding like a PC-warrior from NPR, or bend the "rules" and sound like a typical 'Merkin.

Butter · 10-29-2003, 09:40 AM

Hey, we don't really feel the need to call foreign places by their actual names, usually just using the Americanized versions (see also: pretty much every city in Italy), so I don't see why this is any different.

Bee · 10-29-2003, 09:43 AM

Can't we just call it "Little America" when we are finished?

QuikSand · 10-29-2003, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Butter_of_69
Hey, we don't really feel the need to call foreign places by their actual names, usually just using the Americanized versions (see also: pretty much every city in Italy), so I don't see why this is any different.

I guess that's about where I am, too. Though, we are willing to actually re-spell places in Europe, for whatever reason. With other places, we simply try to transliterate the word, and then willingly butcher the pronounciation.

I confess I don't know to what degree there are real "conventions" for this sort of thing -- maybe the style guides used by journalists are the resource that determines what is "correct?"

Jon · 10-29-2003, 10:14 AM

You left off several...
Veeee Ett Nam

OR

kwag mire

Fritz · 10-29-2003, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon
You left off several...
Veeee Ett Nam

OR

kwag mire

I think you missed something to: .

The Afoci · 10-29-2003, 10:19 AM

I think the seven days war was a kwag mire as well. Can't they speed up these things.

Jon · 10-29-2003, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by The Afoci
I think the seven days war was a kwag mire as well. Can't they speed up these things.

You're right. If you can't win a war in three, four days tops, why bother.

VPI97 · 10-29-2003, 11:58 AM

Leonidas · 10-29-2003, 03:14 PM

Several associates of pronounce it shit-hole

no particular emphasis on either shit or hole.

yabanci · 10-29-2003, 04:01 PM

correct arabic pronunciation is you prounounce the I like the i in "hit", the r with a roll, and the a in raq like the a in "at" (short), with emphasis on the first syllable. Iran is pronounced similarly (not like I-RAN down the street).

Arabic pronounciation is fairly easy. Emphasis is almost always on the first syllable.

The vowels are pronounced as follows:

a = as in that a in "at"
e = as in that a in "about"
i = as in the i in "hit"
u = as in the oo in "book"

some combinations:

ai = as the y in "fly"
ei = as in the ai in "wait"

consonants - most are the same as in english. A couple of notes:

r = sort of a rolling r like in spanish or scottish
g = as the g in "go", not as the g in "gentle"
q = similar to k in english, except further back in the throat
zh = as the s in "pleasure"

useful word if you are in Iraq: 'awenni!!! (means "help me!!!", because if you are in Iraq you are in deep shit).

p.s., yabanci is a turkish word and in turkish the c is pronounced as a "j"

Fritz · 10-29-2003, 04:13 PM

that is a pretty good post for a newb.

thanks

Glengoyne · 10-29-2003, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yabanci
correct arabic pronunciation is you prounounce the I like the i in "hit", the r with a roll, and the a in raq like the a in "at" (short), with emphasis on the first syllable. Iran is pronounced similarly (not like I-RAN down the street).

Arabic pronounciation is fairly easy. Emphasis is almost always on the first syllable.

The vowels are pronounced as follows:

a = as in that a in "at"
e = as in that a in "about"
i = as in the i in "hit"
u = as in the oo in "book"

some combinations:

ai = as the y in "fly"
ei = as in the ai in "wait"

consonants - most are the same as in english. A couple of notes:

r = sort of a rolling r like in spanish or scottish
g = as the g in "go", not as the g in "gentle"
q = similar to k in english, except further back in the throat
zh = as the s in "pleasure"

useful word if you are in Iraq: 'awenni!!! (means "help me!!!", because if you are in Iraq you are in deep shit).

p.s., yabanci is a turkish word and in turkish the c is pronounced as a "j"

Two things.

First if I follow you correctly you are saying the pronunciation is pretty close to ih-rack.

Secondly, what does Yabanci mean?

Glengoyne · 10-29-2003, 07:04 PM

Dola,

If that is correct, then Quiksand didn't even have the correct pronunciation listed in his poll. I knew I shoulda gone with the trout. It was a trick question.

yabanci · 10-29-2003, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Glengoyne
Two things.

First if I follow you correctly you are saying the pronunciation is pretty close to ih-rack.

Secondly, what does Yabanci mean?

I think ih-rock would be closer, if you pronounce rock in the usual english way (similarly Iran would be ih-ron if you pronounce ron the way you pronounce the name).

Yabanci means stranger or outsider, as in the title of Albert Camus' masterpiece novel "The Stranger."

tucker342 · 10-29-2003, 09:58 PM

I pronouce it EYE-RACK

MIJB#19 · 10-30-2003, 07:36 AM

Sand, where's the "Americans don't care" awnser?
Or did you anticipate to seeing only non-Americans to vote in this poll?

Yabanci, watch out with the pronounctuation lessons, or they'll think you're my secret identity.

View Poll Results: How do you pronounce Iraq?
EYE-RACK	44	51.76%
ee-RACK	14	16.47%
uh-RACK	8	9.41%
uh-ROCK	2	2.35%
ee-ROCK	13	15.29%
T-ROW-T	4	4.71%
Voters: 85. You may not vote on this poll

10-29-2003, 08:14 AM	#3
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	ear-ock would be the closest am I the only person the break the sylables after the "r"? __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster Last edited by Fritz : 10-29-2003 at 08:15 AM.

10-29-2003, 09:40 AM	#6
Butter Coordinator Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Dayton, OH	Hey, we don't really feel the need to call foreign places by their actual names, usually just using the Americanized versions (see also: pretty much every city in Italy), so I don't see why this is any different. __________________ My listening habits

10-29-2003, 10:14 AM	#9
Jon High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000	You left off several... Veeee Ett Nam OR kwag mire Last edited by Jon : 10-29-2003 at 10:15 AM.

10-29-2003, 10:19 AM	#11
The Afoci Pro Rookie Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Moorhead	I think the seven days war was a kwag mire as well. Can't they speed up these things. __________________ I had something.

10-29-2003, 08:13 AM	#2
Hands to the Face n00b Join Date: Jan 2003	Although I've heard it pronounced "eye rack" in numerous contexts, I believe that the correct pronounciation is "eee rock." Of course, we can't even agree on how to spell "Al Queda" or "Osama". . .

10-29-2003, 08:16 AM	#4
Dutch "Dutch" Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Tampa, FL	How do you pronounce it? Then we don't need to take the poll...

10-29-2003, 09:36 AM	#5
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	I really don't know to what extent there is a "right" answer. Are American English speakers obliged to use the preferred inflections of the native language? We bastardize so many things as we absorb them into our own language, is there really a "rule" here? I think that the supposedly "correct" pronunciation is what I tried to represent above as ee-ROCK. I've heard intellectuals essentialy argue that there really isn't such a sount as the "a" we Americans use in words like "dad" and "cat" in other languages-- that the "a" is almost universally prunounced like in the words "yacht" or "bra." But, then, what of a place name like Afghanistan -- which is almost universially pronounced by even "highly cultured" Americans with three very American-sounding short a sounds? I think that most politicians, even cultured ones, probably deliberately try to avoid sounding too effette here, and stick with the more common EYE-RACK or even uh-RACK pronouncitations. Newscasters have a choice to make -- go by the book and risk sounding like a PC-warrior from NPR, or bend the "rules" and sound like a typical 'Merkin.

10-29-2003, 09:43 AM	#7
Bee Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Fairfax, VA	Can't we just call it "Little America" when we are finished?

10-29-2003, 11:58 AM	#13
VPI97 Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Kennesaw, GA	__________________ CT & Jivin - "Surprisingly Entertaining"

10-29-2003, 03:14 PM	#14
Leonidas College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: East Anglia	Several associates of pronounce it shit-hole no particular emphasis on either shit or hole. __________________ Molon labe

10-29-2003, 04:01 PM	#15
yabanci College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jun 2003	correct arabic pronunciation is you prounounce the I like the i in "hit", the r with a roll, and the a in raq like the a in "at" (short), with emphasis on the first syllable. Iran is pronounced similarly (not like I-RAN down the street). Arabic pronounciation is fairly easy. Emphasis is almost always on the first syllable. The vowels are pronounced as follows: a = as in that a in "at" e = as in that a in "about" i = as in the i in "hit" u = as in the oo in "book" some combinations: ai = as the y in "fly" ei = as in the ai in "wait" consonants - most are the same as in english. A couple of notes: r = sort of a rolling r like in spanish or scottish g = as the g in "go", not as the g in "gentle" q = similar to k in english, except further back in the throat zh = as the s in "pleasure" useful word if you are in Iraq: 'awenni!!! (means "help me!!!", because if you are in Iraq you are in deep shit). p.s., yabanci is a turkish word and in turkish the c is pronounced as a "j"

10-29-2003, 04:13 PM	#16
Fritz Lethargic Hooligan Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: hello kitty found my wallet at a big tent revival and returned it with all the cash missing	that is a pretty good post for a newb. thanks __________________ donkey, donkey, walk a little faster

10-29-2003, 07:04 PM	#18
Glengoyne Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Fresno, CA	Dola, If that is correct, then Quiksand didn't even have the correct pronunciation listed in his poll. I knew I shoulda gone with the trout. It was a trick question.

10-29-2003, 09:58 PM	#20
tucker342 Pro Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Iowa City, IA	I pronouce it EYE-RACK

10-30-2003, 07:36 AM	#21
MIJB#19 Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands	Sand, where's the "Americans don't care" awnser? Or did you anticipate to seeing only non-Americans to vote in this poll? Yabanci, watch out with the pronounctuation lessons, or they'll think you're my secret identity.

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