23Feb/060
Iraq Pronunciation For English Speakers
If I were Iraqi, I would be somewhat irritated at the mispronunciation of my country name by Westerners living here in Iraq. If any of the actual Iraqis are bothered by it they don’t let on, so I’ll make the correction on their behalf.
If I ask one of our Iraqis what country we’re in right now, they do NOT say ‘EYE-rack’ or ‘ee-RACK’, they say ‘ee-ROCK’, though the Arabic name they use amongst themselves is ‘al Iraqya’.
If I ask them what they call the people who live in Iraq, they say ‘ee-ROCKEEZ’, not ‘EYE-rackeez’.
For perfect fidelity, the ‘R’ is rolled a little bit, as in Spanish, but there’s clearly no expectation of Westerners to master that detail.
Please, for my sake if not for theirs, say it right.