# POCK-ih-stan or PACK-ih-stan?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pock-ih-stan-or-pack-ih-stan/538863>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 10, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pock-ih-stan-or-pack-ih-stan/538863 "2010-05-10T02:01:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 7

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pock-ih-stan-or-pack-ih-stan/538863/7 "2010-05-10T08:14:17Z")

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> [@AK84](#):
>
> PaH-Kiss-Tahn.
> 
> Here is a english language documentary from Pakistan (on its military), here the narrators prononciation.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UYGJ-RHGUQ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UYGJ-RHGUQ)

This is how it’s pronounced by locals.

Obama’s pronunciation is more correct than most Americans, who say PACK-ISS-TAN. Obama’s mother worked in Pakistan for some time, and he visited Pakistan when he was young, which is why I guess he’s familiar with the native pronunciation.

The actual pronunciation of the T in PakisTan is different from how any American says it. Here’s my previous explanation on the dope about it:

> [@Come Mister Tallyban tally me banana](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/come-mister-tallyban-tally-me-banana/519675/10):
>
> Obama pronounces Pakistan as the locals do. Taliban, locally, is pronounced taa-li-baan, with a soft T sound that no American I know seems to be able to differentiate from a hard T sound. It’s a sound that I think doesn’t exist in the English language, or at least I’m unable to find a word that uses it, to be able to explain the difference to my friends.
> 
> The closest I can come to an explanation is this:
> 
> Say tree. Now say three. See where your tongue is when you say three? It’s not the same place as tree, right? Now say T with your tongue at the the position where you start the word three. That’s a soft T sound. Am I making any sense?
> 
> Next time you meet a South Asian friend, ask them to pronounce a native language word that uses a soft T and a hard T, and see if you can make out the difference. Chances are, you can’t.

And here’s some more trivia: -stan (from Sanskrit) means place, e.g.:

Afghanistan = Place of the Afghanis  
Hindustan (India) = Place of the Hindus

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