# What does a "gh" combination signify in an Arabic word? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 15, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423 "2005-04-15T03:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/1 "2005-04-15T03:03:02Z")
If an Arabic word translated into Roman letters has a “gh” combination in it – e.g., “Baghdad” – what does that signify? Is it supposed to be pronounced differently than a “g” by itself? ---
**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:** [April 15, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/2 "2005-04-15T05:20:02Z")
Not a native speaker ( or a speaker at all, for that matter ), but “gh” = ghayn. To quote: _Ghayn is another one of the hardest sounds for an English speaker to produce. It has no english equivilent at all and does not even sound close to any letter in the English language. It is similar to the Arabic letter ع('ayn), but it has a “gh” sound in front of it. It feels and sounds somewhat like you are gagging while saying “ghah”. It is best to have a native Arabic speaker pronounce it for you and help you with getting the pronunciation correct._ From here: [http://www.middleeasterndance.homestead.com/ArabicLettersSounds.html](http://www.middleeasterndance.homestead.com/ArabicLettersSounds.html) Some more fluent person ( **Johanna** , perhaps) may be by with a corrective. - Tamerlane ---
**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:** [April 15, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/3 "2005-04-15T05:35:56Z")
First of all, ghayn isn’t pronounced like ‘ayn. (Note the mark ‘ that stands for the letter ‘ayn in transliteration.) The two are articulated in different places and sound totally different. Someone who observes that the two letters share a similar written shape, come next to each other in the alphabetical order, and their names rhyme, but who didn’t know the pronunciation, might assume (incorrectly) that they are pronounced similarly. They are not. Ghayn is articulated as a voiced postvelar fricative at the top of the throat (_a‘la al-halq_) in the classical Arabic description. ‘Ayn is articulated as a voiced pharyngeal fricative in the middle of the throat (_awsat al-halq_). The sound that ‘ayn is most similar to is the unvoiced pharyngeal ha’. The sound of ghayn is basically similar to the French uvular r, for example, _vrai_ could almost be spelled “vghai.” It can also be heard in Spanish, between vowels, as in _agua_. It’s also the sound of the letter gamma in Modern Greek, which is why this Greek letter [symbol] **g** [/symbol] is used to transcribe the sound of ghayn phonetically. Classical Arabic does not have a /g/ phoneme or a [g] sound at all. The real Arabic sound of ghayn does not sound like /g/ at all. The sound of ghayn is like the kh sound in chutzpa, but voiced. In Arabic, it isn’t heavily pronounced like gargling or gagging. Such exaggerated pronunciations would sound gross to Arab ears. It’s a gently articulated sound, as soft as wind blowing through trees. It’s made by letting the breath pass over the back of the throat while the vocal cords are humming. In Arabic pronunciation, ghayn is pronounced with almost no friction. The corresponding unvoiced sound kha’ is pronounced with friction, but not ghayn. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/4 "2005-04-15T13:49:29Z")
I speak only a few words of Arabic but one self-instruction book I have says that this sound uses muscles that are not used by English speakers, except when they throw up. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/5 "2005-04-15T14:24:57Z")
K and G are the two voiced postvelar **stops**. Say aloud, and contemplate the difference between, the place names “Kent” and “Ghent.” Now head up to Scotland and speak of the lochs there, or over to Germany and exclaim “Ach du lieber!” at a beautiful sight. Notice the fricative sound there, similar to the K sound you made as a stop in “Kent” or in “dock,” but having the same difference from it as F does from P. Okay, now voice it, as though you’re bringing the good news from Kent to Ghent. That’s the sound of Arabic gh. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/6 "2005-04-15T15:01:52Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I speak only a few words of Arabic but one self-instruction book I have says that this sound uses muscles that are not used by English speakers, except when they throw up. For _ghayn_? Not for _'ayn_? **Johanna** – my understanding is that the sound represented by \*ghayn \* varies considerably among Arab-speaking countries (cf. _dhal_). ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/7 "2005-04-15T15:31:39Z")
You know when Roy Orbison is singing “Pretty Woman” and he dowes that little growl from the back of his throat? “Gggggggoowww…” There’s your ghayn. 'ayn comes from the same neighborhood but the glottal stop is not rolled or fricated. I actually gagged the first few times I tried to say it And yeah, a number of sounds are pronounced differently depending on dialect. Egyptians typically will turn the “J” into a “G” (like ‘ **g** um’) and other dialects (Egypt again?) take the the “Q” and turn it into an outright non-vocalized glottal stop. I could see ghayn getting stressed & mangled in all kinds of ways, but am unfamiliar with any examples. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/8 "2005-04-15T16:02:37Z")
If you have Real Player, you should be able to listen to the sound [here](http://www.arabic2000.com/arabic/alphabet.html) . ---
**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:** [April 16, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-a-gh-combination-signify-in-an-arabic-word/299423/9 "2005-04-16T13:35:55Z")
OK, I got out my favorite Arabic grammar book, _A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language_ by Haywood and Nahmad (Harvard University Press). Here’s how they describe the pronunciation of ghayn: “ghain is the sound made in gargling, or like the French ‘r’ _grasséyé_ with a little more of the _g_ in it.” Does that help? It’s pretty much what has been said already. Compare their description of ‘ayn: “عain is a very strong guttural produced by the compression of the throat and expulsion of breath. This and the four emphatic letters just given [sad, dad, ta’, za’] are rarely well-pronounced by non-Arabs, and they are best learned from an Arab.” Well, even though I’m a non-Arab, I can pronounce them quite well, so if you collar me at a Dopefest I could demonstrate them for you. I can even recite Arabic poetry & stuff. But I have to admit, the accents of native Arabic-speaking women are way more pleasant on the ears. I love listening to them talk.