How Do You Pronounce “Qatar?” (or any other country, for that matter)

Of all the controversies about this year’s World Cup, perhaps none is so conversationally ubiquitous as how we in the English-speaking world are supposed to pronounce the name of the country where it is being played. Traditionally, it has been something like “ka-TAHR.” This version has been mainstream in European languages since Pliny the Elder first mentioned the peninsula in the 1st Century. But there is a modern trend, particularly among Gulf expats (including my cousins, with whom I had this argument recently) to say something like “cutter.” The latter is indeed more Arabic. It is worth noting, however, that “cutter” is the Modern Standard Arabic version — in the local dialect, it sounds more like “gi-tuhr.” So, who is right? <a href="https://sjquillen.medium.com/how-do-you-pronounce-qatar-or-any-other-country-for-that-matter-977df08469d2">Click Here</a>