The idea is to indicate, by means of the characters above given as near as possible the local pronunciation without attempting a complete reproduction of all sounds heard.
GERMAN SYSTEM.
Rules adopted in 1888 by the Imperial German Hydrographic Office, for the orthography and pronunciation of foreign geographic names.
The names from nations who use the Roman or German alphabet are to be rendered in the native form, excepting such for which a German orthography has been generally adopted, as Kopenhagen, Neapel, Genna, etc. Other foreign names which are generally known and whose orthography has been generally adopted, as Zanzibar, not Sansibar; Zulu, not Sulu, will not be changed.
The letters are pronounced as follows:
a, as a in Vater.
å, between a and o (Åland's Inseln).
e, as in Eden.
i, as in Ida.