għagħa

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic غاغة‎ (ḡāḡa, “mob, crowd”). The word is an extreme example of how the loss/vowelisation of għ has weakened the phonetic shapes of many words in Maltese. One might think that għagħa would subsequently have come out of use, but it remains common.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /aː/
    • IPA(key): /aˤː/ (archaic)
    • IPA(key): /ˈɣaː.ɣa/ (archaic, rural)

Noun

għagħa f or m

  1. upheaval, tumult

Usage notes
  • Originally and still often feminine, but because of the now monosyllabic pronunciation it may also be construed as a masculine.
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