qala'

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic قَلَعَ‎ (qalaʿa, “to pull out, rip off, uproot”). Though the semantics make good enough sense, perhaps reinforced by the fact that the verb (with its initial uvular and final pharyngeal) would have been somewhat onomatopoeic of retching; compare unrelated but phonetically similar Arabic قاءَ‎ (qāʾa, “to vomit”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈʔala/
  • Homophone: qalgħa

Verb

qala' (imperfect jaqla')

  1. to vomit
  • qalgħa
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