What is the correct spelling of the Arabic name سعد in English?

Question

I need help in how to spell the Arabic name (سعد). I previously asked the question Sa'ad : Correct spelling in English and French; however, it got closed.

I added a youtube video describing how it is pronounced, so experts can listen and try to describe how it would be spelled.

Based on the FAQ, Spelling and punctuation are acceptable questions.

Answer 1

Transliterations of Arabic names tend to follow fairly set principles, but there is some variation when it comes treatment of ع (ayn). Which one you should go for depends largely on your target audience:

1. The most formal, linguistically precise version is to use an open quote mark, “ ‘ ” (the closed quote “ ’ ” being reserved for the glottal stop). Hence, Sa‘ad.

2. In some academic contexts, you’ll sometimes see “9” (e.g., here). This may be because “ ’ ” is too easily overlooked (though I suspect the convention has crept in under the influence of Word, because some people can’t figure out how turn off smart quotes, and I emphatically deprecate it.) Hence, Sa9ad.

3. Outside academia, if ع is indicated at all, then it tends to be by a close quote. Hence, Sa’ad.

4. Frequently, though, all nonalphabetic symbols and diacritics are dispensed with. (This is, for instance, the house style of The Economist, so hardly to be sniffed at.) Hence, Saad.
5. Finally, depending where your سعد is from, the second a in his name may not be at all prominent (not the case in your youtube snippet). So, you’ll sometimes see Sa‘d or Sa’d. (The latter was used, e.g., for the 1920’s Egyptian prime minister, along with Saad).

In the title of Reem Bassiouney’s recent novel, Professor Hanaa, the aa stands for a plus glottal stop, rather than a long a or a plus ع. So, the risk you run by avoiding nonalphabetic symbols is that people won’t know precisely which pronunciation you have in mind. But then, unless your readers know some Arabic, it’s unlikely that an apostrophe or other symbol would settle matters.

When I was editing a book a couple of years ago that included a large number of Arabic, Hebrew and Ottoman names, I went with The Economist’s house style, on the recommendation of a Middle East historian. I think the same option works as well for any general audience.

Answer 2

Based on the previous discussion and that YouTube video, I don't think an apostrophe is required. In fact, it might lead people to believe it's a 2-syllable word, when it's really monosyllabic.

The name sounds like a homophone of the word sod. The question is, how to make that vowel sound in a name?

A double-a, though rare in English, can make that sound. If someone seems puzzled while trying to figure out how to say the name, one could offer the following hint:

It's pronounced like Saab, only with a “d”.

Though the name is bound to be mispronounced from time to time, it's not the only name that's hard to pronounce based on spelling alone, and therefore may trip up people who are unfamiliar with it. A few other examples are Sean, Joaquin, Geoff, Yves, Zoe, Imogen, Naomi, and Hermione.

It's going to be hard to come up with a spelling that can never be mispronounced; English isn't very good for that (as evidenced by heteronyms such as read, wind, does, live and buffet).

Based on the little bit of research I just conducted, Saad seems to be more common than Sa'ad in English spellings, but I'm not prepared to declare that emphatically.