The pronunciation of Persian and Himyari

The line above a vowel indicates a long emphasised sound:
 
ā as in “far” (so Sharazād should be pronounced Shara-zahd)

ū as in “moon” (so Gudrūz should be pronounced Gu-drooz)

ī as in “seen” (so Taqardīs should be pronounced Takar-dees)

ō as in “more” (so the Jōl plateau should be pronounced Johl)
 

Other unusual sounds are:
 
ay is similar to “y” in “sky” (so Sayf should be pronounced Syfe)

š is a softer version of “sh” (so Zardaš should sound more like “Zardash” than “Zardas”)

dh is a cross between a “d” and a“th” sound (so dhow should sound more like dthow)

au as in “how” (so Hadhramaut should sound more like Hadthra-mowt)


There are also a number of harsh back-of-the-throat sounds:
 
kh is like the “ch” in the Scottish word “loch”

gh is like the “r” in the French word “merci”
 
’ is a catch in the back of the throat called a glottal stop.  It is like the break you have in the middle when you say, “Uh, oh!”
 
‘ is a guttural sound made by contracting your throat and expelling air. It is a harsher sounding version of ’ which has no equivalent sound in English.