# Pronounciation of Qatar **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852 "2013-12-20T22:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/21 "2013-12-22T06:19:08Z")
I’ve always “pronounced” is “KAY-tar” in my head. I’ve never had occasion to speak the name aloud. ---
**Author:** ![bahimes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bahimes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bahimes)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/22 "2013-12-22T18:04:05Z")
**Law Monkey** got it. It is an initial glottal stop (throat gargling) which is hard enough for English speakers in the middle of a word. Very hard to swallow your tongue and choke out that throat gargle on an initial. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/23 "2013-12-22T21:48:36Z")
Welcome back, Qatar. Isn’t there someone named Paul from Qatar on this board? I’ll wait for him to weigh in. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/24 "2013-12-23T12:39:15Z")
I’ve always heard it pronounced “KAY-tar.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/25 "2013-12-23T14:31:57Z")
“I don’t know about you, but that guy in the gold lamé turban is really pinging my Qatar.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/26 "2013-12-23T16:36:19Z")
I’ve always heard the first syllable emphasized: KAH-tar. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/27 "2013-12-23T17:19:43Z")
My 1990 Merriam-Webster lists the following pronunciations: Qa·tar geographical name \ˈkä-tər, ˈgä-, ˈgə-;, or, sounding like "cotter, gotter, gutter, respectively). This is somewhat noteworthy, as this predates the Gulf War of 1990, which is probably one of the first times the name started appearing with any frequency in the press. [M-W.com](http://M-W.com) has since then added: kə-ˈtär\ (like kuh-TAHR). (Which is the way I would say it.) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/28 "2013-12-23T18:14:09Z")
I was in Qatar one weekend for R&R while stationed in Iraq in early 2008. The only people I spoke to were foreign workers though (who make up about 90% of Qatar’s residents). Can’t say I’m really an expert. But in general, in Arabic, my understanding is that the concept of “stress” applied to a certain syllable doesn’t exist. So, it wouldn’t be “KHA-ter”, nor “kha-TAR”, but more like “KHA-TAR”, with equal stress on both syllables. But if you’re going to Americanize it, either way works okay. I never understood why I should learn another entire language just to refer to a foreign location or person. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/29 "2013-12-24T02:07:16Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > … but more like “KHA-TAR”, with equal stress on both syllables. I think that’s more like it, as memory serves. I know I’ve been berated for saying kah-TAR by people familiar with the country, so I stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/30 "2013-12-24T04:26:37Z")
OK, now that the OP has been thoroughly addressed, how do I pronounce the name of the elephant, Babar? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/31 "2013-12-24T05:45:09Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > OK, now that the OP has been thoroughly addressed, how do I pronounce the name of the elephant, Babar? I grew up saying it “BA-bar”, only to find, 40 years later, that my best friend grew up saying it, “ba-BAR”. Some native French would be of some assistance here, given that the character’s creator was French. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/32 "2013-12-24T05:46:44Z")
Hadn’t thought about him in years, but I think I always heard BAE-bar, with the first vowel the short “A” sound in “flat” or “hat.” ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/33 "2013-12-24T06:51:03Z")
I try to imitate the Arabic pronunciation of “Qatar.” I do the same with “Qantas,” since it lacks the “u.” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/34 "2013-12-24T07:38:25Z")
I feel ridiculous, if not pretentious, trying to pronounce words or names in the native tongue; especially when any native sounds don’t exist in English phonetics and even moreso when a reasonable approximation has been adopted as the English pronunciation. Why go through the overkill in effort, unless trying to appeal to locals while visiting or legitimately talking to natives in their own tongue? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/35 "2013-12-24T15:09:18Z")
Trying to convince Americans to say “cutter” is like trying to convince them that it’s not kah-BULL, Afghanistan, nor is it cah-DIZ, Spain. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/36 "2013-12-24T17:58:45Z")
I don’t know what’s correct, but I have always said it most closely to ‘guitar’. I would not, however, take the typical American Talking Head’s pronunciation as a guide, however. Most (all?) of them regularly mispronounce ‘Tienanmen’ whenever it is in the news. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/37 "2013-12-24T18:52:30Z")
[What’s the right way to say Qatar?](http://www.thearabicstudent.com/2010/12/whats-right-way-to-say-qatar.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/38 "2013-12-24T21:14:46Z")
At least there is no controversy over how to \*spell \*it, like Ghadaffi. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/39 "2013-12-24T23:24:27Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > At least there is no controversy over how to \*spell \*it, like Ghadaffi. Ga-Daffy? ---
**Author:** ![bink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@bink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bink)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852/40 "2013-12-25T01:08:35Z")
There was a great scene on the Daily Show one time where John Oliver was interviewing a man from Qatar. The man pronounced it something like “kah’tr” and John Oliver corrected him. "I think you’ll find it’s “ka-TARR”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-qatar/676852.md?page=3)