4. An approximation, however, to the sound is alone aimed at. A system which would attempt to represent the more delicate inflections of sound and accent would be so complicated as only to defeat itself. Those who desire a more accurate pronunciation of the written name must learn it on the spot by a study of local accent and peculiarities.
5. The broad features of the system are that vowels are pronounced as in Italian and consonants as in English.
6. One accent only is used, the acute, to denote the syllable on which stress is laid. This is very important, as the sounds of many names are entirely altered by the misplacement of this "stress."
7. Every letter is pronounced. When two vowels come together, each one is sounded, though the result, when spoken quickly, is sometimes scarcely to be distinguished from a single sound, as in ai, au, ei.
8. Indian names are accepted as spelt in Hunter's Gazetteer.
The amplification of the rules is given below:—
| Letters. | Pronunciation and Remarks. | Examples. |
| a | ah, a as in father | Java, Banána, Somáli, Bari. |
| e | eh, e as in benefit | Tel-el-Kebír, Oléleh, Yezo, Medina, Levúka, Peru. |
| i | English e; i as in ravine; the sound of ee in beet. Thus, not Feejee, but | Fiji, Hindi. |
| o | o as in mote | Tokio. |
| u | long u as in flute; the sound of oo in boot. Thus, not Zooloo, but | Zulu, Sumatra. |
| All vowels are shortened in sound by doubling the following consonant. | Yarra, Tanna, Mecca, Jidda, Bonny. | |
| Doubling of a vowel is only necessary where there is a distinct repetition of the single sound. | Nuulúa, Oosima. | |
| ai | English i as in ice | Shanghai. |
| au | ow as in how. Thus, not Foochow, but | Fuchau. |
| ao | is slightly different from above | Macao. |
| ei | is the sound of the two Italian vowels, but is frequently slurred over, when it is scarcely to be distinguished from ey in the English they. | Beirút, Beilúl. |
| b | English b. | |
| c | is always soft, but is so nearly the sound of s that it should be seldom used. If Celebes were not already recognized it would be written Selebes. | Celebes. |
| ch | is always soft as in church | Chingchin. |
| d | English d. | |
| f | English f. ph should not be used for the sound of f. Thus, not Haiphong, but | Haifong, Nafa. |
| g | is always hard. (Soft g is given by j) | Galápagos. |
| h | is always pronounced when inserted. | |
| j | English j. Dj should never be put for this sound. | Japan, Jinchuen. |
| k | English k. It should always be put for the hard c. Thus, not Corea, but | Korea. |
| kh | The Oriental guttural | Khan. |
| gh | is another guttural, as in the Turkish | Dagh, Ghazi. |
| l m n | As in English. | |
| ng | has two separate sounds, the one hard as in the English word finger, the other as in singer. As these two sounds are rarely employed in the same locality, no attempt is made to distinguish between them. | |
| p | As in English. | |
| q | should never be employed; qu is given as kw | Kwangtung. |
| r s t v | As in English. | |
| w | As in English. | Sawákin. |
| x | As in English. | |
| y | is always a consonant, as in yard, and therefore
should never be used as a terminal, i or e
being substituted. Thus, not Mikindány, but not Kwaly, but | Kikúyu. Mikindáni. Kwale. |
| z | English z. | Zulu. |
| Accents should not generally be used, but where there is a very decided emphatic syllable or stress, which affects the sound of the word, it should be marked by an acute accent. | Tongatábu, Galápagos, Paláwan, Saráwak. |
FRENCH SYSTEM.
Rules adopted in April, 1886, by the Société de Géographie at Paris, for the orthography of native names of places.