Baháʼí orthography

Western Baháʼís in the lifetime of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá used a variety of transliterations from Arabic. For example, Baháʼu'lláh – the Faith's founder, was written in a variety of spellings. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1906 instructed to write the term Bahaʼo'llah, and later in 1921 requested that it be written Baha ʼUllah.[4]

The Baháʼí transliteration scheme that Shoghi Effendi adopted was based on a standard adopted by the Tenth International Congress of Orientalists which took place in Geneva in September 1894.[4][5] Shoghi Effendi changed some details of the Congress's system, most notably in the use of digraphs in certain cases (e.g. ⟨s͟h⟩ instead of ⟨š⟩), and in incorporating the solar letters when writing the definite article al- (Arabic: ال‎) according to pronunciation (e.g. ar-Raḥím, aṣ-Ṣaddíq, instead of al-Raḥím, al-Ṣaddíq).[4] He also introduced certain spelling variations that reflect Persian pronunciation (e.g. ⟨v⟩ instead of ⟨w⟩), specifically an Isfahani accent (e.g. ⟨Mihdí⟩ instead of ⟨Mahdí⟩).[4]

A list of frequently used words using the new system was first shared in 1923 and later published in The Baháʼí Yearbook of 1926.[4] Minor updates were published in The Baháʼí World volumes III (1930)[6] and VII (1939).[7] The system has been widely adopted by Baháʼí publishers.[8] The underdots, underscores, and sometimes the accents are frequently omitted online and in less formal writing due to the difficulty in rendering text.[8]

The Baháʼí transliteration can often differ markedly from versions commonly in use in English.

While the accent and phonemic diacritic marks in the word "Baháʼí" indicate a three syllable pronunciation as [bæhɒːˈʔiː], the official pronunciation guide of the Baháʼí World News Service gives a two syllable pronunciation of "ba-HIGH" /bəˈhaɪ/ for English.[14] The realization of the English pronunciation varies. The Oxford English Dictionary has /bæˈhɑːiː/ ba-HAH-ee, Merriam-Webster has /bɑːˈhɑːiː/ bah-HAH-ee (reflecting in the first syllable the difference between the UK and the US with the 'pasta' vowel), and the Random House Dictionary has /bəˈhɑːiː/ bə-HAH-ee, all with three syllables.[15]

• Dying for God, contains an introductory summary of Baháʼí terminology and transliteration used in academic literature.
• Arabic, Proper pronunciation of, by the Universal House of Justice.
• All Words – Bahaʼi Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Bahaʼi Words and Phrases – BahaIQ