Talk:Tal-Ħandaq
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Etymology[edit]
Tal Handak is the British phonetic spelling of the Maltese town Tal Handaq located in the district of Qormi. In Maltese the letter Q is silent however British people often pronounced Maltese words containing the silent Q as if it were an English word. For example Qormi (correctly pronounced Ormi) is pronounce "Kwormi" by some British people. Similarly Tal Handaq (pronounced Tal Handa') was often pronounced Tal HandaK by British Forces personnel.
<<-- Whoever wrote this has no idea of Maltese phonetics. Q is not silent in Maltese. It's a voiceless glottal plosive (IPA: ʔ), whose approximate sound in a number of British dialects would be the 't' replacement in fortnight [foʔnight], British [Briʔish], got [goʔ], etc. Similarly, Tal-Ħandaq is spelt t̪al ħandaʔ (IPA); Qormi is spelt ʔormi, not ormi. -- Rainwaterfall (talk) 13:29, 30 March 2009 (UTC)