---------+-----------------------------+---------------------------- Letters. | Pronunciation and Remarks. | Examples. ---------+-----------------------------+---------------------------- a | _ah_, _a_ as in _father_ | Java, Banána, Somáli, Bari. e | _eh_, _e_ as in _benefit_ | Tel-el-Kebír, Oléleh, Yezo, | | Medina, Levúka, Peru. i | English _e_; _i_ as in | | _ravine_; the sound of | | _ee_ in _beet_. Thus, not | | _Feejee_, but | Fiji, Hindi. o | _o_ as in _mote_ | Tokio. u | long _u_ as in _flute_; the | | sound of _oo_ in _boot_. | | Thus, not _Zooloo_, but | Zulu, Sumatra. | All vowels are shortened in | Yarra, Tanna, Mecca, Jidda, | sound by doubling the | Bonny. | following consonant. | | Doubling of a vowel is only | Nuulúa, Oosima. | necessary where there is | | a distinct repetition of | | the single sound. | ai | English _i_ as in _ice_ | Shanghai. au | _ow_ as in _how_. Thus, not | | _Foochow_, but | Fuchau. ao | is slightly different from | Macao. | above | ei | is the sound of the two | Beirút, Beilúl. | Italian vowels, but is | | frequently slurred over, | | when it is scarcely to be | | distinguished from _ey_ | | in the English _they_. | b | English _b_. | c | is always soft, but is so | Celebes. | nearly the sound of _s_ | | that it should be seldom | | used. If _Celebes_ were | | not already recognized it | | would be written | | _Selebes_. | ch | is always soft as in | Chingchin. | _church_ | d | English _d_. | f | English _f_. _ph_ should | | not be used for the sound | | of _f_. Thus, not | | _Haiphong_, but | Haifong, Nafa. g | is always hard. (Soft _g_ | Galápagos. | is given by _j_) | h | is always pronounced when | | inserted. | j | English _j_. _Dj_ should | Japan, Jinchuen. | never be put for this | | sound. | k | English _k_. It should | | always be put for the | | hard _c_. Thus, not | | _Corea_, but | Korea. kh | The Oriental guttural | Khan. gh | is another guttural, as in | | the Turkish | Dagh, Ghazi.