"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎١‎٩] (٨٦٢/٤٢)

INTRODUCTION
II
Spelling of Names
The authors have been greatly handicapped by the diverse spelling
of geographical names. There is even greater inconsistency in Iraq
than in most countries where transliteration from non-Latin alphabets
is necessary. A gazetteer issued by the British forces in Iraq has been
used as the basis, though this admittedly is based on the first surveys
made in the country during the War of 1914-1918, when time did
not permit accuracy in spelling. Unfortunately Arabic scholars since
then have seemed unable to agree on a practical system of trans
literation suitable for the country, which in turn shows little anxiety
to be consistent. Even places such as Baghdad and Basra have their
variants Bagdad and Basrah, while a single government department
will revel in inconsistency regarding the use of a and e, the terminal
h, the Arabic article al or el, and the use of k, q, or g for the Arabic j.
In Iraq, majority opinion seems to prefer ato e for the short vowel,
though both are found. In Syria e is commoner than a. Hence the
apparent inconsistency in the word Jabal or Jebel on either side of
the Syrian boundary (p. 3). The sound of the Arabic j is a deep
guttural in Iraq, and so has often been transliterated g, which is
nearer the sound than q for the ordinary visitor who does not read
Arabic. But q is used throughout this book for this letter, since it is
now common practice. The P.C.G.N. 1 rules, though sound, are not
yet fully in use on British maps of Iraq. Where there is so much
doubt it has seemed advisable to aim at consistency within the book
and to leave it to experts in the leisured times of peace to put the
matter right. In following this precept, the Arabic usually
shown by ‘) has been consistently dropped, as it is almost impossible
for any but the most expert Arabic-speaking Englishman to pro
nounce. The terminal h when not sounded, as in such words as
Basra(h), Amara(h), Nasiriya(h), has also been dropped, in accordance
with the P.C.G.N. rules, though it is used in Iraq for many places
and by many officials. For the short Arabic vowel fat-ha, a has
normally been preferred to e (as in the word jabal), but ‘teP has been
preferred to ‘tell’ or ‘tali’, ‘Eski’ to ‘Aski’, and Erbil to Arbil, since
these seem to be more conventional. Lastly, the Arabic article al has
been omitted wherever possible at the beginning of place-names.
Few Europeans in the country speak of An Najaf or Al Falluja, and it
seems pedantic to use it in an English account of the country.
A second difficulty arises over the use of alternative place-names.
Many which have been in current use since the eighteenth and
1 The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names.