How is Abu Ghraib *really* pronounced?

[Bill McBlueState]

There's the way the US media pronounce it, "Aboo Grayb," and that seems to have caught on among English speakers. Well, with one important exception.

But does anyone know how it really sounds in Arabic?

Regardless, if one mispronounces the word, one at least should be mispronouncing it consistently. When * mangled it three different ways, it was pretty clear he's been thinking too much about cartoons and not enough about one of the WORST scandals EVER perpetrated.

[qwertyMike]

1. I don't fault Bush

for mispronouncing this.

Jeez don't we have enough shit to focus on?

Waste of bandwidth.

[jpgray]

3. But his pronunciations were waaaay out there--'Abu Garum'? The hell!?

I can see grayb, or grah-eeb, or gray-eeb--basically anything with a 'gr' followed by a vowel and a 'b', but he didn't even come close!

[BlueEyedSon]

5. And why 3 different pronunciations?

[qwertyMike]

6. Who cares?

[progressiveBadger]

10. Because he's the damn president of the United States

making a statement to "Americans and Iraqis" and ANY good speaker knows that you need to pronounce every word correctly because otherwise you just look dumb.

[Kurovski]

14. It also indicates

that he doesn't do much thinking on the matter. It seems as though it's a brand new word to him.

It was pitiful to watch.

It is indeed important.

[BlueEyedSon]

15. Don't you care the guy with his finger on the button can't even talk?

[truth2power]

16. I fault him.

It shows disrespect for the Arab people and for the importance of this issue.

This wasn't just a slip - we all do that occasionally. But he does this kind of thing all the time. And the fact that he couldn't have found someone, somewhere, who could give a definitive pronunciation and transcribe it phonetically is just beyond the pale.

It shows that he couldn't have been discussing the prison issue with staff - otherwise he wouldn't act like he'd never encountered the word before. I've been talking with friends about what happened at Abu Grahib. At first I heard so many different pronunciations, but I finally settled on one - Abu Grabe. Whether or not this is completely correct, at least I'm now consistent when discussing it.

Also, and I've said this here before - nearly everyone, when they make a mistake in grammar or pronunciation, they "self-correct". Listen for it. It's a sign that we're actually hearing the meaning of what we're saying and we go back and fix it when it comes out wrong.

Bush doesn't do that. He just plunges ahead, as if the meaning is not an issue. Very strange.

He's the president, after all. (Well, allegedly.) How low does the bar have to be??

[NMDemDist2]

2. i have heard the ME/arab speakers

pronounce it with the "g" silent IE abu Harib

[eleonora]

4. aboo-RAeeb

edit: thought the ees convey the sound better.

[Bill McBlueState]

7. more specifically...

Posts 2 and 4 indicate that "Ghraib" has two syllables. That's what I've suspected -- that the 'a' and the 'i' are pronounced separately.

[Canuckistanian]

8. It's hard to pronounce for english speakers

The "gh" is a "uvular fricative", similar to the "ch" in "Chanukah"
An acceptable english pronounciation is "abu-gra-YEEB".

[truth2power]

17. Hmm. Makes sense.

Someone posted somewhere that it's kind of like the French "R" sound, in the back of the throat. That would be similar to a "uvular fricative" I guess.

I said above that I pronounce it "abu grabe". Guess that's not right either, but at least I decided to make a choice and go with it. Sounded like bush had never seen the word before. Sheesh!

[Unperson 309]

18. Closer, I think

to the French uvular 'r' (as in Mireille or Henri)

Sort of "Aboo gh-rah YEEB". I've hearde native speakers pronounce the final 'b' as a hard b or soft 'p' but 'b' is fractionally closer to the correct sound.

309

Boosh? Es-meni al-TI'BEER!!!

[ramblin_dave]

9. VOA pronunciation guide has it

Find it under List Lookup:

http://names.voa.gov/

[Bill McBlueState]

11. very interesting resource

thanks!

[displacedtexan]

13. Pronunciation tapes are sent to media outlets and politicians each week...

from the VOA.

There's no excuse for anyone on TV or radio (or in the freepin' White House, for Jesus' sake, not to be able to pronounce current terms!

[booksenkatz]

12. "Throatwarbler Mangrove" (for the Pythons out there) nt

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