Pronunciation: Khanjar and Jambiya

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Was chatting to a friend of mine who used to live in Oman and has a smattering of Arabic the other day. Was talking Khanjars and got to discussing the pronunciation.
I always say 'Can-Jar'
She says it should be 'Cun-ja'

What about Jambiya?

I tend to say 'Jam-beea'
Others I know say 'Jam-bye-a'

So where do you all stand on these important questions?

Salaams Atlantia ~ Its a bit like the pronunciation of "Tomato" in the UK compared to the USA... It sounds a bit different but everyone knows what you mean. Khanjar is correct... Khunjar is correct... Jambiya or Jambeea or Jambia also works ok. (depending on how much cider you have)
Salaams,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.

[AJ1356]

Khanjar is a Persian word and we have always pronounced it Khanjar, never Khunjar.

[A. G. Maisey]

Interesting.

As a transliteration from a different script, I would imagine that both words would be pronounced phonetically, which seems to be the case from what Ibrahim has written, with any variation in vowel pronunciation being a product of region, however, one letter does puzzle me, and that is the "R" in khanjar.

Is this letter rolled, or is it flat?

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

*snip*however, one letter does puzzle me, and that is the "R" in khanjar.

Is this letter rolled, or is it flat?

Well, I always assumed that it was a hard sound: open up, and say 'AHH'.