# How do you pronounce "Iraq"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582 "2001-09-14T13:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/1 "2001-09-14T13:53:06Z")
So which is it? ear-rack’ eye-rack’ a-rack’ (“a” rhymes with “sun”) i-rack’ (“i” rhymes with “sit”) ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/2 "2001-09-14T13:56:09Z")
I-rack… ryhmes with “I- rack”… or " Eye-crack" or “I-whack”… ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/3 "2001-09-14T14:10:25Z")
To my understanding, the ‘a’ in ‘Iraq’ is pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘father’. i-'räk. ---
**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/4 "2001-09-14T14:12:30Z")
Evidently, Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/5 "2001-09-14T14:21:42Z")
i would assume something like ee-ROCK or, possibly, EE-rock, since the English short-A is fairly uncommon outside Germanic languages, but I bet **Jomo Mojo** has the definitive answer, so perhaps we can wait for him… ---
**Author:** ![katiekilldare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/838e76/32.png) [@katiekilldare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katiekilldare)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/6 "2001-09-14T14:22:36Z")
Eye-Rock’, says me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/7 "2001-09-14T14:24:04Z")
oh, and I suspect the “q” really is a sound more guttural than an English “k,” perhaps a sound sometimes transliterated as “gh” or “kh” from Arabic languages to English…but once again, I defer to a linguist… ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/8 "2001-09-14T14:27:47Z")
Well, in the interests of being different I imagine, the BBC and other media in the UK pronounce _Iraq_ with the first syllable _i_ as in _it_ and the second syllable _raq_ as in _back_. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/9 "2001-09-14T14:32:17Z")
Oh, and my neighbours, who left _Iran_ when Ayatollah Khomeini returned home in 1979, pronounce _Iran_ as _Persia_. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/10 "2001-09-14T14:56:50Z")
“Iran” and “Iraq” are most approximately pronounced (to the American-English-speaker’s ear) as: “ee-RAHN” and “ee-RAHKH.” The “eye” pronunciation is just sloppy. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/11 "2001-09-14T15:07:07Z")
The reason I posted is because a lot of newscasters seem to favor **ear-rack’**. Sounds strange. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/12 "2001-09-14T15:15:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* > \*\*Evidently, Iraq. \*\* Ho ho ho. Prepare to be “harrumphed” soundly by Esprix. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/13 "2001-09-14T16:32:41Z")
**JRDelirious** is correct. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Evnglion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f04885/32.png) [@Evnglion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evnglion)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/14 "2001-09-14T17:40:50Z")
I-rawk ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-iraq/81582/15 "2001-09-14T19:39:02Z")
\*Thanks for the endorsement, **pulykamell**. 🙂 The first syllable in ‘Irâq is a short vowel /i/ as in “it.” The second syllable sounds like English “rock” except that the letter _q_ is an unvoiced uvular stop, articulated farther back than English /k/. It’s articulated with the back of the tongue on the uvula. A sound that does not occur in English. At the beginning of ‘Irâq, there is another sound, the _‘ayn_, transliterated by the mark ‘. That is a voiced pharyngeal fricative, made with a tightly constricted pharynx (in the middle of the throat). As for Îrân, the first syllable is a long vowel, pronounced “ee.” That’s in contrast to the short i in Iraq. The second syllable sounds like “Ron” as in Reagan.