Hezbollah Pronunciation

[David Bergdahl]

On a similar question, I assume the name is a compound of hezb (party) and
allah (god)-- it seems that the spelling hezbollah  represents ['hEz bala]
or ['hEzb ?ala] while the hizballah spelling represents [hIz 'baela] or [hIz
'bUla].  My question is, what are Arabic compound stress rules?

<snip>I heard a Lebanese woman Arab now at the Carnegie Institute for
Peace in a long radio interview.  She pronounced "Hezbollah" at
least three ways, distinguished by which syllable was stressed.  I have also
heard
short audio clips of Arabs using the word.  They seems to stress the middle
syllable.  Pronunciations supported "Hezb" over "Hizb".</snip>

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