Hezbollah Pronunciation

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

Alice Faber's reply is very helpful.  Here now (below my signoff) is a bit more from Google. 

Gerald Cohen 

"...I wonder why the Western media uses the spelling 'Hezbollah'? See this note from Wikipedia:
1. ^ The name ???? ????? is transliterated from the Arabic in a number of ways. An exact transliteration would be hizbu' llah. Hezbollah is predominantly used by American media, such as CNN, Fox News and The New York Times, as well as by the BBC and The Times in the UK, but the organization itself alternatively transliterates its name as Hizbollah or Hizbullah. The leading English-language newspaper in the region, the Daily Star of Beirut, transliterates it as Hizbullah, as do the British newspapers The Guardian and The Economist. The Guardian's Sunday sister publication The Observer and British newspapers The Independent and The Daily Telegraph prefer Hizbollah, however, as does the American Christian Science Monitor. Both Hizbollah and Hezbollah are common transliterations into other languages with a Latin-based alphabet, such as French, Spanish, Italian and the Nordic languages. It may, however, also be written as Hizballah or Hisbollah, and the literal Arabic version Hizb Allah, which is used by Al Jazeera. [Emphasis added] "Hizb" (party) is the Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation, and "Hezb" is closer to Persian and to Lebanese dialect. The 'h' is pharyngeal in Arabic, but a normal 'h' sound in Persian. The "-llah" ending, originally "Allah", means "(the) God". The name is derived from a Qu'ranic aayat (verse) referring to those who belong to and follow the "Party of God".

 

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