Qatar (Arabic: قطر The pronunciation of Qatar in English varies; see List of words of disputed pronunciation for details.In terms of English phonemics, the vowels sound halfway between short u and broad a . The q and the t have no direct counterparts, but are closest to the unaspirated allophones of English k and t. However, since these allophones cannot occur in these positions in English, in this context they will sound more like English g and d.