2 = eh' (sounds a bit like a cute/light hiccup)
3 = ein (hard, deep, guttural)
5 = kh (hard, back of the throat)
7 = ha (hard, deep, guttural "h")
' = used as a verbal "pause" within a word
I, truly, have NO idea where this system came from or who or how it was invented, but it is fairly common when writing Arabic words with English characters.
Just to give you a little background on the Arabic language. We have 28 letters (not much more than the 26 in English). However, like most languages that originate from sanskrit, the "vowels" are represented by characters above and below the consonants. These are in addition to the 28.
Arabic has a few that do not exist in English and there are a few in English that do not exist in Arabic. For example, there is no "P" in Arabic. So, when you visit the Middle East, you'll probably hear people say "Bebsi" for Pepsi and "Bizza" for pizza. My personal favorite is "beoble" for "people." You guys get the idea. =)
If you'd like additional information on the language of Arabic (in the "SEMITIC" language family ... btw), I found Wikipedia to be a decent source on this particular topic and you can read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_language
I hope that helps. Please keep the questions coming.
