From The Hebrew Alphabet...

The Hebrew Alphabet Letter Ayin

The sixteenth letter in many of the Semitic alphabets, including Hebrew, is the letter Ayin. It is pronounced like "ah " yeen". This letter does not have a sound of its own, but it usually has a vowel that is associated with it. The letter name comes from West Semitic meaning "eye".

Ayin is not able to receive a dagesh. It also represents a voiced pharyngeal fricative which does not have an equivalent in the modern day English language. Ayin is one of three letters that is able to take a vowel when it comes at the very end of a word. The vowel that is takes is called chataf patach. The letter Ayin is also known as one of the guttural letters, since the pronunciation comes from the back of the throat.

The letter Ayin, in gematria, represents the number 70. Ayin is one of seven letters which receives a special crown when it is written in a Sefer Torah.
The letter Ayin is one of the hardest letters for Western learners to say. The resultant sound has been described as that of a bleating goat. To listeners in the West, the letter resembles that of an Aah" sound with a slightly raised intonation.
The Meaning of Ayin

The word Ayin means "to see" or "eye" and, in a deeper meaning, to obey and to understand. Ayin also represents the primeval light, or, in other words, the spiritual light of God as put forth in the book of Genesis 1:3. This Divine Light is much greater than the light that comes from the sun and the stars. It seems that the spiritual eye is able to see the presence of this radiance.

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