# خالد - transliteration



## Omega Force

Assalamu Alaykum,

What is the most correct spelling of this name?

خالد

Khaled
Khaaled
Khâled
Khaleed
Khalid
Khaalid
Khâlid
Khallid
Khalada
Raled
Rhaled
Ralid
Rhalid
Haled
Halid
Halit

Please detail and explain your answer as much as you can.

Oh and please speak in English only, I don’t speak Arabic well.


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## Jamal31

I would definitely say Khâlid or Khâled. The reason being the Alif here is a Maddah letter.


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## analeeh

The last three look like representatives of the Turkish variant, which is spelt _Halit_ reflecting its Turkish pronunciation. The versions with 'r' are interesting and I wonder what language they come from.

The normal English versions are Khalid and Khaled. If you want to represent the long vowel in the first syllable, you can go with Khālid or Khâled or whatever you feel like, but this would be very unusual in normal English usage. Slightly more common is to spell it with two as (_Khaaled_).

I don't really think you can pick out a 'most correct' spelling, because 'most correct' depends on what you're talking about. Different languages will have more or less common alternatives for transliterating it.


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## tounsi51

The most common spelling in English or French I came accross is Khaled


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## elroy

Here's my take (which mostly echoes prior responses):

Ordinary, everyday, non-linguist usage:
Khaled [my preference]
Khalid

Okay I guess? but not sure why you would want to double the l:
Khallid

Less everyday, more technical, since the length of the first vowel is indicated:
Khaaled
Khâled
Khaalid
Khâlid

Not reflective of normal English pronunciation:
Raled
Rhaled
Ralid
Rhalid
Haled
Halid
Halit

No:
Khaleed
Khalada


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## akhooha

From google n-gram stats, currently the most widely used in American and British literature is Khalid (although Khaled was more prevalent prior to 1900).  I prefer Khalid, as the "i" reflects the pronunciation of the kasra.
"Khalid vs Khaled"


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## elroy

akhooha said:


> the "i" reflects the pronunciation of the kasra.


 That's the MSA pronunciation.  I think it's also "i" in Egyptian, but this is by no means universal.  In Palestinian, and probably other dialects as well, it's "e."


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## cherine

elroy said:


> I think it's also "i" in Egyptian


No, we always -or almost always- write the name and pronounce it as "e" not "i": Khaled.


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## elroy

It would be interesting to compare sound files.  To my ears, what I think is the Egyptian pronunciation sounds like "i" and not "e."  But maybe I'm wrong about how it's pronounced in Egypt.


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## cherine

Generally speaking, we only pronounce "i" the short yaa2, but the kasra is always "e". Pronouncing it as "i" sounds very foreign to us, or in other term: it's one of the things that tells that a person is not Egyptian. 
I'll try to find/make an audio sample.


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## akhooha

cherine said:


> but the kasra is always "e"


Are you saying that the Egyptian pronunciation of, for example, اِبن and بِنت would be ebn and bent?
El-Said Badawi, Egyptian author of Dictionary of Egyptian Arabic, page 259, seems to disagree with you:





P.S. Badawi does, however make a distinction between two different kasras (page XVII) (the kasra in خالِد would appear to be kasra khāliṣa as he transliterated it with "i")


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## Ghabi

The following thread is devoted to the transliteration of the kasra in EA:
- EA: Pronunciation of kasra (e / i)


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## Jamal31

I've read that, in Classical Arabic, Kasrah itself is between an 'e' and an 'i', and it depends mostly on whether there is a Maddah or Sukoun involved in the word. When the letter after the Kasrah has a Sukoun and the second letter after that leads into an Alif Maddah, then it is closer to an 'i' (e.g. إِسْلَام = Islam not Eslam); when it follows immediately after a Maddah it is pronounced closer to an 'i' (e.g. كَاتِب = Katib not Kateb); When it is only two letters and the second letter has a Sukoun it is closer to a 'i' (e.g. مِنْ = Min not Men); and in most other circumstances it is pronounced closer to an 'e' (e.g. عَلَيْهِمْ = Alayhem not Alayhim); etc. I don't remember all the rules and the exceptions but that's what I've found from my studies. I also learned (on this forum) that the Kasrah on the pronoun suffix ـهِ becomes elongated into a Yaa sound except if  if what comes before the pronoun is a Sakinah or if what comes after the pronoun is a Sakinah.


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## Omega Force

Thank you all for your answers so far.

So if I understand correctly, if we want to name a child, we mustn’t use Khâlid, Khâled, Khaalid, Khaaled, because these transliterations are too technical and are only used by professional linguists. Instead we must use the transliterations Khalid and Khaled because they are simple and easy. Am I correct?

Also, I should have explained this in the first post but I forgot: I’m actually French.
I live sometimes in France and sometimes in foreign countries. I speak with both French-speaking people and English-speaking people.
So I would like to know what the best transliteration in English is and what the best transliteration in French is.

Je suis français.
Je vie des fois en France et des fois à l’étranger. Je parle avec des personnes qui parlent français et avec des personnes qui parlent anglais.
Donc j’aimerais savoir quelle est la meilleure translitération en anglais et quelle est la meilleure translitération en français.


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## akhooha

I don't know about the "best" transliterations, but the most common ones in contemporary literature are:
French: Khaled (Khalid vs Khaled --- French)
English: Khalid (Khalid vs Khaled --- English)


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## tounsi51

En France on a un exemple avec le chanteur algerien Khaled. Par contre les marocains diraient Khalid


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## Gloom Rider

The official scientific transliteration from the Arabic alphabet is actually "Khalid". This is the most correct spelling for the Arabic language. Other versions are either from different languages, or, for example "Khaled", are just anglisized.


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## lukebeadgcf

Gloom Rider said:


> The official scientific transliteration from the Arabic alphabet is actually "Khalid". This is the most correct spelling for the Arabic language. Other versions are either from different languages, or, for example "Khaled", are just anglisized.



I disagree. First, there is not a universally accepted way to transliterate Arabic. Second, in formal transliteration, there would typically be an indication that the "a" is a long vowel, like with a macron. For example, see this citation from an academic dissertation:



> Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad b. Abī Bakr al-Rāzī, _Rawḍat al-faṣāḥa_, ed. Khālid ʿAbd al-Ra’ūf al-Jabr, Amman: Dār al-Wā’il, 2005.


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## elroy

Gloom Rider said:


> The official scientific transliteration from the Arabic alphabet is actually "Khalid".


 Scientific?  Official according to whom or what? 


Gloom Rider said:


> This is the most correct spelling for the Arabic language.


 Most correct by what standard? 


Gloom Rider said:


> Other versions are either from different languages, or, for example "Khaled", are just anglisized.


 Wrong.  “Khaled” reflects the pronunciation in Palestinian Arabic.  What do you mean by “anglicized”?   Some of the other transliterations, like “Khaalid,” reflect an interest in indicating vowel length; they are not “from different languages.”


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## Gloom Rider

lukebeadgcf said:


> I disagree. First, there is not a universally accepted way to transliterate Arabic. Second, in formal transliteration, there would typically be an indication that the "a" is a long vowel, like with a macron. For example, see this citation from an academic dissertation:


Yes, you're surely right. Actually, I'm still a beginner in the Arabic language. I should better have said, that I my statement ain't sure and that I just suppose it. I'm sorry.


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## Gloom Rider

elroy said:


> Scientific?  Official according to whom or what?
> Most correct by what standard?
> Wrong.  “Khaled” reflects the pronunciation in Palestinian Arabic.  What do you mean by “anglicized”?   Some of the other transliterations, like “Khaalid,” reflect an interest in indicating vowel length; they are not “from different languages.”


I'm so sorry. I really made a mistake. I shouldn't have stated it, but just supposed it. Something like this won't happen again, but now I got one more experience. I still need to learn more about the Arabic language.


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## Gloom Rider

What about "Kẖạld" as transliteration?


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## Gloom Rider

Gloom Rider said:


> What about "Kẖạld" as transliteration?


I'm still learning.


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## akhooha

"Kẖạld"  bears no resemblance to existing systems of transliteration. Completely unworkable.
(P.S. i believe standsad German transliteration of Arabic would be "Chalid")


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