Why is the [x] sound in many non-Latin alphabet languages transliterated to English as "kh"? The problem is that most English speakers pronounce it simply as 'k' which is completely wrong. Wouldn't it be more sensible to at least transliterate it as 'h'? At least it would sound kind of right and would only lack the friction.
kh
"kh" and "h" are often contrasted, as in modern Hebrew. The choice of "kh" may also have been influenced by German "ch" and Greek "ch".
For most speakers of English (and others using the Latin alphabet, I believe) "x" is almost always realized as /ks/ or /s/ word initially (in English, at least).
Skippy is right, except that I think the usual pronunciation of initial <x> in English is /z/, as in "xylophone" or "Xavier".
Maybe it's a regionalism, but I've actually heard people say /'kz/ for the initial X in proper names. As well, I know a woman who says /sk/ for both the Xs in 'Xerxes'.
I've heard some people pronounce "Xavier" with [gz] and an epenthetic vowel, as if it were Igzavier.