Pronunciation of foreign names has always been something that caused much angst amongst American news agencies.  The following is an AP produced pronunciation guide that was released in 2001.  However, given the recent situation in the middle east, and as the stability of certain Arab nations are in question – a reposting of this guide seems prudent.

16:19 ET
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Stations:

The use of “al” in Arabic names varies from country to country, and even within families. Some Arabs use “Al”; others use “al”. Some separate the “al” from the following name with a space or a hyphen. Some Arabs use “el” instead of “al.”

The AP’s practice is to use the common accepted form on well-known names or the form preferred by an individual.

AP Broadcast News Center

News

A

Mahmoud Abbas -- mah-MOOD' ah-BAHS' 

Mahmoud Abdel-Baset -- mah-MOOD' ab-DEHL'-BA'-set 

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman -- shayk OH'-mahr AHB'-dehl RAHK'-mahn 

King Abdullah -- ab-DUHL'-uh 

Mumia Abu-Jamal  -- moo-MEE'-ah ah-BOO' jah-MAHL' 

Aden -- AYD'-n (Like the word "aid" with the "n" sound blended into the 

"d") 

Afghanistan -- af-gahn'-ih-STAHN' (slightly less stress on "gahn") (the 

westernized pronunciation af-GAN'-ih-stan is also acceptable.) 

Gul Agha -- gool AH'-guh   

John Agwunobi -- a-gwuh-NOH'-bee 

Ahmedabad -- AHM'-duh-BAHD' 

Mohamed Hussein Aidid -- ah-DEED' 

Aiko -- eye-koh 

Mullah Mohammed Hasan Akhund -- MOO'-lah moh-HAHM'-ed hah-SUHN'

uh-HOOND' ("oo in HOOND as in "food")

Al-, al-, al

Al-Barakaat -- ahl-BAHR'-uh-kaht 

Jamal Al-Fadl -- ahl-FAHD'-uhl   

Saud al-Faisal -- sah-OOD' ahl fy-ZAHL' 

Farouk Ali -- fah-ROOK' ah-LEE' 

Fadhil Al-Khaledy -- FAH'-deel ahl-KUH'-lay-dee 

Nabil Al-Marabh -- nuh-BEEL' ahl-muh-RAHB' 

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi -- AHB'-dehl BAH'-seht AH'-lee

ahl-meh-GRAH'-hee 

Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali -- 

    moh-HAH'-mehd rah-SHEED' dah-ood ahl-oh-WAHL'-ee 

Al-Qaida -- al-KY'-ee-duh 

Al Sayd -- al-sah-HOOD' ("oo" as in "food") 

Ayman al-Zawahri -- uh-MEEN' al-zawl-HEHR'-ee (last two syllables sound 

like the name "Harry") 

Aaliyah -- uh-LEE'-uh

Am to Az

Haron Amin -- hah-ROHN' ah-MEEN' 

Kofi Annan -- KOH'-fee AN'-nan 

Aqaba -- AH'-kuh-bah 

Aracaju -- ah-ruh-kuh-ZHOO' 

Hanan Ashrawi -- HAH'-nahn ash-ROW'-ee 

Bashar Assad -- bah-SHAHR' AH'-sahd   

Mohammed Atef -- AH'-tehf 

Azerbaijan -- ah-zur-by-JAHN' 

Tariq Aziz -- TAH'-rihk ah-ZEEZ' 

Jose Maria Aznar -- AHS'-nahr

B

Ahmed Badawi -- AH'-mehd buh-DAH'-wee 

Herman Badillo -- bah-DEE'-yoh 

Bagram -- bah-GRAHM' 

John Baldacci -- bal-DAH'-chee 

Bamiyan -- BAH'-mee-ahn 

Ehud Barak -- EH'-hud bah-RAHK' 

Behawalpur -- beh-HAH'-wahl-poor 

Beit Hanoun -- bayt ha-NOON' 

Shlomo Ben-Ami -- SHLOH'-moh ben-ah-MEE' 

Binyamin Ben-Eliezer -- behn-yah-MEEN' behn-ahl-ee-EH'-zahr 

Eliahu Ben-Elissar -- ehl-ee-ah-HOO' ben-ehl-ee-ZAHR' 

Osama bin Laden -- oh-SAH'-muh bin-LAH'-din 

Alwaleed Bin Talal -- al-wa-LEED' bin TAL'-al 

Bishkek -- BIHSH'-kehk 

Enrique Bolanos -- boh-LAN'-yohs 

La Bouche -- boosh 

Richard Boucher -- BOW'-chur 

Abdelaziz Bouteflika -- ahb-DUL'-ah-ZEEZ' boot-uh-FLEE'-kuh 

Lakhdar Brahimi -- LAHK'-dahr bra-HEE'-mee 

Agus Budiman -- AH'-goos boo-DEE'-mahn 

Gracia Burhnam -- GRAY'-shuh

C

Chau Takhay -- chow tak-how 

Chechnya -- CHECH'-nyah 

Chen Shui-bian -- jehn shwee bee-ehn 

Jacques Chirac -- zhahk shih-RAHK' 

Ciprofloxacin -- sih-proh-FLAK'-sihn 

Ciudad del Este -- see-yoo-DAHD' dehl EH'-stay 

William Costopoulos -- kah-STAHP'-uh-lihs

D

Tom Daschle -- DASH'-uhl 

Dhahran -- dah-RAHN' 

Dashst-i-Qula -- dash-tee-kah-LAH' 

Vladimir Dezhurov -- deh-ZH00R'-ahf 

Donald DiFrancesco -- dee-fran-SEHS'-koh 

Dornoch -- DOHR'-nahk 

Doxycycline -- dahk-sih-SY'-kleen 

Dushanbe -- duh-shahn-BAY' 

Dynegy -- DY'-nuh-jee

E

Ehime Maru -- eh-hee-mee mah-roo 

Wadih El-Hage -- WAH'-dee ehl-HAHJ' 

Mounir El Motassadeq -- moo-neer ehl mah-tuh-SAD'-uhk 

Saeb Erekat -- sah-EEB' EHR'-ih-kaht

F

Fatah -- fah-TAH' 

Anthony Fauci -- FOW'-chee 

Ahmad Fawzi -- FOW'-zee 

Lamen Khalifa Fhimah -- LAH'-mehn kah-LEE'-fah feh-HEE'-mah 

Ari Fleischer -- AHR'-ee FLY'-shur 

Toniu Fonoti -- toh-NYOO' foh-noh-TEE' 

Vicente Fox -- vih-SEN'-tay 

Alberto Fujimori -- foo-jee-MOHR'-ee 

Keiji Fukuda -- kay-jee foo-koo-dah

G

Gabon -- ga-BOHN' 

Moammar Gadhafi -- MOO'-ah-mahr gah-DAH'-fee 

Yale Galanter -- yayl guh-LAN'-tur 

Rakesh Gangwal -- rah-KESH' GAHN'-gwahl 

Genovese -- JEH'-noh-veez 

Ghanikheil -- GAH'-nikh-ay-ehl 

Ghowr -- GOR 

Giotto -- ZHAH'-toh 

Raanan Gissin -- rah-NAHN' gis-EEN' 

Goshen -- GOH'-shuhn 

Hamid Gul -- HAH'-mihd gool

H

Hadera,  Israel  -- hah-DEHR'-uh 

Haifa -- HY'-fuh 

Hamas -- hah-MAHS' 

Farid Hamayoun --HAH'-may-yoon 

Ahmed Hannan -- AH'-mehd hah-NAHN' 

Mahmoud Abu Hanoud -- mah-MOOD' ah-boo hah-NOOD' 

Mokhtar Haouari -- MOHK'-tahr how-AHR'-ee 

Abdul Haq -- ahb-DOOL' hahk 

Hebron -- HEH'-bruhn 

Herat -- hay-RAHT' 

Hezbollah -- HEZ'-buh-lah' (slightly less stress on "lah") 

Liban Hussein -- LEE'-bahn hoo-SAYN' 

Faisal Husseini -- FY'-suhl hoo-SAY'-nee

I

Damir Igric -- duh-MEER' EE'-grich 

Imam -- EE'-mahm 

Islamabad -- ihs-LAH'-muh-bahd' (Slight stress on final syllable, not

as strong as stress on second syllable)   

Darrell Issa -- EYE'-suh 

Igor Ivanov -- EE'-gohr ee-VAHN'-awf

J

Jabir Air Base -- jeh-BEER' 

Jacobabad -- jak-oh-ba-BAHD'    

Jalalabad -- ju-LAH'-lah-bahd (The vowel sound in "ju" is similar to

the double-o sound in "took") 

Beit Jalla -- bayt JAH'-lah 

Qatradullah Jamal -- kwah-trah-DOOL'-ah jah-MAL' 

JDAM -- JAY'-dam (Joint Direct Attack Munition) 

Jenin -- juh-NEEN' 

Kajal Jhaveri -- KAH'-jihl jah-VEHR'-ee 

Jiang Zemin -- jahng zuh-MEEN' 

Jihad -- jih-HAHD' 

Steve Jobs -- jahbz

K

Kabul -- kah-BOOL' (though the pronunciation KAH'-bool is also common) 

Kach -- KAHKH 

Kalai-Zal -- kah-LAY'-zahl 

Kandahar -- kan'-duh-HAHR' (slight stress on first syllable; stronger

stress on third syllable) 

Karachi -- kuh-RAH'-chee 

Karam -- KAR'-uhm 

Islam Karimov -- EES'-lahm kah-REE'-mahv 

Hamid Karzai -- HAH'-mihd KAHR'-zeye 

King Khalid Military City -- KAHL'-ihd 

Ali Khamenei -- hah-meh-neh-EE' 

Mohammad Khatami -- HAHT'-ah-mee 

Khost -- hohst (heavy stress on first "h") 

Khyber Pass -- KY'-bur  

Kwame Kilpatrick -- KWAH'-mee 

Kim Dae-jung -- kihm day-joong 

Kim Jong Il -- kihm jawng eel  

Khobar -- KOH'-bahr 

Koenigswinter -- KOO'-nihgz-veen-ter 

Junichiro Koizumi -- joon-ee-chee-roh koh-ay-zoo-mee   

Colleen Kollar-Kotelly -- KOH'-lur koh-TEL'-ee 

Leonid Kuchma -- KOOCH'-mah 

Kunar -- ku-NAHR' (The vowel sound in "ku" is similar to the double-o

sound in "took") 

Kunduz -- KUHN'-dooz 

Kyrgyzstan -- KEHR'-gih-stahn

L

Landstuhl -- LAWND'-shtool 

Gerald Levin -- luh-VIN' 

Chandra Levy -- SHAHN'-druh LEE'-vee 

Likud -- lee-KOOD' 

Ottilie Lundgren -- AH'-tih-lee

M

Imam Mahdi -- EE'-mahm MAH'-dee 

Masako -- mah-sah-koh 

Mazar-e-Sharif -- mu-ZAHR'-eh-sheh-REEF' (The vowel sound in "mu" is

similar to the double-o sound in "took") 

Megawati Sukarnoputri -- meh-ga-WAH'-tee soo-kahr-noh-POOT'-rih 

Anwar Mehmood -- an-WEHR' mah-MOOD' 

Kweisi Mfume -- kwah-EE'-see oom-FOO'-may 

Slobodan Milosevic -- sloh-BOH'-dahn mee-LOH'-shuh-vich 

Norman Mineta -- mih-NEH'-tuh 

Daoud Mir -- dah-OOD' MEER 

Khalfan Khamis Mohamed -- KAHL'-fahn KAH'-mis moh-HAH'-med 

Mahathir Mohamed -- muh-HAH'-thihr moh-HAHM'-ed 

Yoshiro Mori -- yoh-shee-roh moh-ree 

Mosul -- MOH'-sul 

Zacarias Moussaoui -- zuh-KAR'-ee-uhs moo-SOW'-ee 

Hosni Mubarak -- HAHS'-nee moo-BAH'-rahk 

Robert Mueller -- MUHL'-ur 

Mujahedeen -- moo-jah-hid-DEEN' 

Pervez Musharraf -- pur-VEHZ' moo-SHAH'-ruhv 

Nacer Mustafa -- NAH'-sur moo-STAH'-fah 

Amir Khan Muttaqui -- mew-TAH'-kee 

Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil -- wah-KEEL' ah-MED' mut-uh-wah-KIHL'

N

naltrexone -- nal-TREKS'-ohn 

Naruhito -- nah-ROOSH'-doh 

Nauru -- NAH'-roo 

Hassan Nasrallah -- HAS'-ahn NAS'-ruh-lah 

Netanya -- neh-TAHN'-yah 

Benjamin Netanyahu -- net-an-YAH'-hoo 

Kathy Nguyen -- WIN 

Katsuya Nomoto -- kat-SOO'-yah nok-MOH'-toh 

Novosibirsk -- nuh-vuh-see-BEERSK' 

Novorossiisk -- nuh-vuh-ruh-SEESK' 

Yusuf Nuristani -- YOO'-sihf noo-ruh-STAH'-nee

O

Mohamed Sadeek Odeh -- sah-DEEK' oh-DAY' 

Ehud Olmert -- EH'-hood OHL'-murt 

Oman -- OH'-mahn 

Mullah Mohammed Omar -- MOO'-lah moh-HAHM'-ed oh-MAHR' 

Yuri Onufrienko -- oh-noo-free-ENH'-koh

P

Pasani -- puh-SAH'-nee 

Pashtun -- pahsh-TOON' 

George Pataki -- puh-TAK'-ee 

USS Peleliu -- PEH'-leh-loo 

Shimon Peres -- shee-MOHN' PEHR'-ehs 

Peshawar -- puh-SHAH'-wuhr 

Daniel Petithory -- PEH'-tih-toh-ree 

Yevgeny Primakov -- yehv-GEH'-nee PREE'-mah-kawf 

Puli Khumri Hill -- PUH'-lee kohm-REE' 

Lyudmila Putin -- lud-MEE'-luh 

Vladimir Putin -- POO'-tihn

Q

Abdul Qadir -- kah-DEER' 

Qalqilya -- kahl-KEEL'-yuh 

Younus Qanooni -- YOO'-nuhs kah-NOO'-nee 

Qatar -- KAH'-tahr 

Quetta -- kuh-WEH'-tuh

R

Burhanuddin Rabbani -- boor-HAHN'-uh-deen ruh-BAH'-nee 

Marc Racicot -- RAHS'-koh   

Hashemi Rafsanjani -- hah-SHEH'-mee rahf-sahn-JAHN'-ee 

Lotfi Raissi -- LUT'-fee RY'-see 

Ramadan -- RAH'-muh-dahn 

Ramallah -- rah-MAHL'-ah 

Abdel Aziz Al Rantissi -- AHB'-duhl ah-ZEEZ' ahl rahn-TEE'-see 

Maulana Fazal-ur Rehman -- muh-law-nuh fuhz-LOOR' VEH'-mahn 

Ahmed Ressam -- AH'-med res-AHM' 

Condoleezza Rice -- kahn-dah-LEE'-zuh 

Richard Riordan -- REER'-duhn 

Riyadh -- rhee-AHD' 

Ibrahim Rugova -- IHB'-rah-heem roo-GOH'-vah

S

Abdul Sattar -- sa-TAHR' 

Abu Sayyaf -- AH'-boo sy-YAHF' 

Gerhard Schroeder -- GEHR'-hahrd SHROH'-dur 

Sergipe -- sehr-ZHEE'-pih 

Nabil Shaath -- nah-BEEL' shahth 

Ariel Sharon -- ah-ree-EL' shah-ROHN' 

Eduard Shevardnadze -- sheh-vahrd-NAHD'-zeh  

Shindand -- SHEEN'-dehn 

Shura Council -- SHOO'-ruh 

Imam Muzammil Siddiqi -- EE'mahm MOO'-zuh-meel suh-DEE'-kee 

Michael Skakel -- SKAY'-kul 

Mohambedou Ould Slahi -- mahk-MOOD' oold slah-HEE' 

Balbir Singh Sodhi -- SOH'-dee 

Spinboldak -- SPEEN'-buhl-duhk 

Srebrenica -- SREH'-breh-neet-sah 

Srinagar -- SREE'-nuh-gur 

Brandy Stroeder -- STROH'-dur 

Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan -- shayk AKH'-med sah-'LEEM SWAY'-dahn

T

Tajikistan -- tah-JEEK'-ih-stahn 

Takhar -- tah-KAR' 

Taliban -- TAL'-ih-bahn 

Taloqan -- tahl-uh-KAHN' 

Tang Jiaxuan -- tahng zhow-shwin 

Tanzania -- tan-zuh-NEE'-uh 

Hashim Thaci -- HAH'-shihm THAH'-chee 

George Trofimoff -- TRAHF'-ih-mawf

U

Uzbekistan -- ooz-bek-ih-STAHN'

V

Atal Bihari Vajpayee -- ah-TUL' bee-HAH'-ree VAHJ'-py-ee 

Francesc Vendrell -- fran-CHESK' ven-DREL' 

Guy Verhofstadt -- vur-HOHF'-stadt

W

Steven Wiersma -- WEERZ'-muh

X, Y

Xian -- SHEE'-ahn 

Xinhua -- shin-wah) 

Xigris -- ZY'-grihs 

Daoud Yakub -- dah-OOD' YAH'-kuhb 

Yemen -- YEH'-muhn

Z

Abdul Salam Zaeef -- ahb-DOOL' sah-LAHM' zah-EEF' 

Mohammad Zaher -- ZY'-hehr 

Half and Susanne Zantop -- hahlf and soo-ZAHN'-uh 

Rehavam Zeevi -- reh-huh-VAHM' zuh-EH'-vee   

Robert Zoellick -- ZEL'-ihk 

Zhang Yuan-Yuan -- zhahng yoo-ahn yoo-ahn

SUSPECTED HIJACKERS

Here are the names of the suspected hijackers of the planes used in the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Note that in Arabic, stressed syllables don’t tend to be stressed “hard.”

The pronouncers follow this format: Full name, name on second reference (in parentheses), pronunciation.

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 11

Mohamed Atta, (Atta) -- moh-HAM'-ad AT'-ta 

Wail Alshehri, (Alshehri) -- WAH'-eyl (close to the word "while") ahl

SHE'-ree (light stress on SHE)  

Waleed M. Alshehri, (Alshehri) -- WAH'-leed ahl SHE'-ree 

Abdulaziz Alomari, (Alomari) -- ab-dool-ah-ZEEZ' ahl ohm-AR'-ee (very

light stress on AR) 

Satam al-Suqami, (al-Suqami) -- sah-TAHM' ahl soo-KAHM'-ee

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 175

Marwan al-Shehhi, (al-Shehhi) -- mar-WAHN' ahl SHE'-hee 

Fayez Ahmed, (Ahmed) -- FEYE'-ez  AH'-med 

Ahmed Alghamdi, (Alghamdi) -- AH'-med ahl HAHM'-ed-ee (HAHM more drawn

out than stressed) 

Hamza Alghamdi, (Alghamdi) -- HAHM'-zeh ahl HAHM'-ed-ee (HAHM more

drawn out than stressed) 

Mohand Alshehri, (Alshehri) -- moh-HAHN'-ed ahl SHE'-ree

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 77

Hani Hanjour, (Hanjour) -- hah-nee (both syllables equally stressed)

han-joor (again, equally stressed) 

Khalid Almihdhar, (Almihdhar) -- KHAL'-led al-meh-DAHR'(almost rolling

the rr at end) 

Majed Moqed, (Moqed) -- MAH'-jed (MAH stressed in the sense of drawn

out) moo-KED'   

Nawaf Alhamzi,(Alhamzi) -- nuh-WEHF' ahl ham-ZEE' 

Salem Alhamzi,(Alhamzi) -- sah-LEEM' ahl ham-ZEE'

UNITED AIRLINES FLIGHT 93

Ziad Samir Jarrah, (Jarrah) -- ZEYE'-ed  suh-MEER' jher-RAH' 

Saeed Alghamdi, (Alghamdi) -- SAH'-eed ahl HAHM'-ed-ee (HAHM more drawn 

out than stressed)   

Ahmed Alhaznawi, (Alhaznawi) -- AH'-med ahl HASS'-nuh-wee 

Ahmed Alnami, (Alnami) -- AH'-med ahl NAH'-mee

SPORTS

A

Shinobu Asagoe -- ah-sah-GOH'-ee 

Obafemi Ayanbadejo -- oh-bah-FEH'-mee eye-uhn-bah-DAY'-zhoo

B

Jim Boeheim -- BAY'-hym 

Scott Brosius -- BROH'-shuhs

C, D, E

Mike DeJean -- dih-ZHAHN' 

Nicolas Escude -- EHS'-koo-day

F, G

Dario Franchitti -- frahn-KIH'-tee 

Ralph Friedgen -- FREE'-jihn 

Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala -- foo-ah-MAH'-too mah-ah-FAH'-lah 

Elvis Grbac -- GUR'-bak

H, I, J

Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- zih-DROO'-nuhs ihl-GOWS'-kuhs 

Jaromir Jagr -- YAH'-oh-meer YAH'-gur

K, L

Mike Krzyzewski -- shuh-SHEF'-skee 

Manny Legace -- LEH'-guh-see

M, N

Mark McLemore -- MAK'-lih-mohr

O, P

Michael Olowokandi -- oh-lah-wah-KAN'-dee

Q, R, S

Bud Selig -- SEE'-lihg 

Peja Stojakovic -- PAY'-zhah stoy-AH'-koh-vihch

T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z

Val d'Isere -- val-dih-SEHR' 

Chris Weinke -- WEHN'-kee 

Vitali Yachmenev -- YAHK'-meh-nehv 

Amos Zeroue -- ZEHR'-oh-way 

Alex Zhamnov -- ZHAM'-nahf

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