How to spell evil's name

[The One and Only Mo]

<span><span>

   <span>FROM AN INTERNET WEB SITE</span>

 

I count at least 12 different ways to spell the colonel's handle, including Qaddhafi (New York Review of Books), Qaddafi (New Republic), Gaddafi (Time), Kaddafi (Newsweek), Khadafy (Maclean's), Qadhafi (U.S. News & World Report), Qadaffi (Business Week), and Gadaffi (World Press Review). Libya's UN mission, in an effort to spread further confusion, spells the name Qathafi, and I know I've seen Gadaafi somewhere. To make matters worse, the Library of Congress and the Middle East Studies Association, to whom one would ordinarily look for guidance, have a fondness for Qadhdhafi, which is an abomination unto God. I think you now begin to grasp the dimensions of the problem.

Some publications have used several spellings over the years; unfortunately, the result has not been a stylistic convergence, but rather a prolongation of the dismal status quo. In 1973 Business Week started out with Qadafi, which had the advantage of simplicity, at least; unfortunately, almost no one else used it, and BW sheepishly changed to Qadaffi. As of December 30, 1985, the usually punctilious New Yorker was spelling it Khadafy; by January 20, 1986, this had inexplicably morphed into Qaddafi. The Wall Street Journal initially used Qaddhafi, but now has shifted to Qadhafi. My personal feeling is to chuck all the preceding and just call him Poohead, which is easier to remember and has an undeniable evocative power as well. But to each his own.

[muman613]

Gadaffy Duck

[surgical_jew]

I'm one for Poohead!  

I'm a Yemenite Jew so I do have some understanding of Arabic and from what I can gather it has to do with certain letter sounds in Arabic (which exist in Yemenite Hebrew as well) In proper Arabic I think it would be pronounced "Qaddhafi" but in the Libyan dialect it's "Gaddafi"

[muman613]

We Jews always have words like this... Because in the process of 'trasliteration' word sounds often can be translated several ways.

The most common example:

http://joemaller.com/601/sixteen-ways-to-spell-hanukkah/

Hanukkah : 8,470,000 hits.
Chanukah : 3,390,000 hits.
Hanukah : 862,000 hits.
Hannukah : 677,000 hits.
Chanuka : 335,000 hits.
Chanukkah : 274,000 hits.
Hanuka : 192,000 hits.
Channukah : 128,000 hits.
Chanukka : 116,000 hits.*
Hanukka : 86,300 hits.
Hannuka : 51,400 hits.
Hannukkah : 37,300 hits.
Channuka : 33,600 hits.
Xanuka : 992 hits.
Hannukka : 686 hits.
Channukkah : 508 hits.
Channukka : 489 hits.*
Chanuqa : 25 hits.

http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/alephbet.htm#Transliteration

Transliteration

The process of writing Hebrew words in the Latin (English) alphabet is known as transliteration.  Transliteration is more an art than a science, and opinions on the correct way to transliterate words vary widely.  This is why the Jewish festival of lights (in Hebrew, Chet-Nun-Kaf-He) is spelled Chanukah, Chanukkah, Hanuka, and many other interesting ways.  Each spelling has a legitimate phonetic and orthographic basis; none is right or wrong from a linguist's viewpoint, though some are more remote from Hebrew's early pronunciation.

[The One and Only Mo]

We Jews always have words like this... Because in the process of 'trasliteration' word sounds often can be translated several ways.

The most common example:

http://joemaller.com/601/sixteen-ways-to-spell-hanukkah/

Hanukkah : 8,470,000 hits.
Chanukah : 3,390,000 hits.
Hanukah : 862,000 hits.
Hannukah : 677,000 hits.
Chanuka : 335,000 hits.
Chanukkah : 274,000 hits.
Hanuka : 192,000 hits.
Channukah : 128,000 hits.
Chanukka : 116,000 hits.*
Hanukka : 86,300 hits.
Hannuka : 51,400 hits.
Hannukkah : 37,300 hits.
Channuka : 33,600 hits.
Xanuka : 992 hits.
Hannukka : 686 hits.
Channukkah : 508 hits.
Channukka : 489 hits.*
Chanuqa : 25 hits.

LOL

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

P.L.O.