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| The Houthis in Yemen - their logo and spokesman |
Public Service Announcement for journalists, reporters,
anchors, news readers, media analysts, and anyone else who has reason to
comment on the Iranian proxy group in Yemen, the "Supporters of God"
(أنصار الله) the movement's official name, often rendered as Ansar Allah.
They are more commonly called "the Houthis" (الحوثيون).
The name "Houthi" comes from the family's surname, not from a
religious or tribal title.
The movement is named after the al-Houthi (الحوثي) family,
particularly its founder, Husayn Badr al-Din al-Huthi (حسين بدر الدين الحوثي).,
who launched the movement in the 1990s in Yemen's northern Sa'da Governorate.
It is pronounced: "the WHO-thees". I add this to
correct the mispronunciation by those who want to sound like they know what
they are talking about, changing the Arabic letter ث (thāʾ) — (th as in think)
-- to a T, resulting in WHO-tees.
Unlike many other languages that do not have the TH sound,
Arabic has three different distinct letters that employ that linguistic dental
fricative sound.
All of those who insist on converting the TH to a T only
highlight their lack of understanding of the language and the region.
