rgħajn

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Maltese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Arabic غَيْن (ḡayn). The spelling ‹rgħ› is a merely linguistic convention, due to the use of [ʁ] for ‹r› in languages like French or German as well as in Maltese speakers with a rhotacism.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɣajn/ (properly)
  • IPA(key): /raːjn/, /rajn/ (among those who cannot produce the sound)

Noun

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rgħajn f

  1. the voiced velar or voiced uvular fricative /ɣ~ʁ/, an archaic phoneme in Maltese; see for more