Note: This column was originally posted June 20, 1986.
Dear Cecil:
Does anyone know how to spell the "mad dog's" name? Time spells it Muammar Gaddafi, the TV stations spell it Moammar Khaddafi, and my roommate tells me she's seen it spelled Qaddafi. Now all of a sudden there's a rush to start spelling it Gadhafi. What's the deal?
— S. Johnsen, ChicagoCecil replies:
Lord knows I hate to be critical, but the proliferation of spellings for the name of Libya's head dude has been one of the continuing scandals of American journalism. I mean, come on, we're trying to plumb this guy's psychic depths and we can't even get his name straight? Sometimes I shudder for the future of my country.
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.
Things are only slightly less muddled with Mr. K's (or Mr. Q's or Mr. G's, as you prefer) first name.
Biz Week originally had it as Muammer, and the New Yorker used to say Moammar, but now both have changed to Muammar. For a while, in fact, it seemed that Muammar (sometimes written Mu'ammar, but let's not get picky) might become the standard — until the Desert Fox himself threw a monkey wrench into things, as he is wont to do. But more on this anon.
The basic problem here is that (1) there is no generally accepted authority for romanizing Arabic names, and (2) the Mummer's name contains several sounds that have no exact equivalent in English. In standard Arabic, the initial consonant qaf is pronounced like a throaty k, midway between the English k and the German ch, as in Bach. The second consonant, dhal — two dhals, actually — is pronounced like a double dh, which is similar to English th, only with the tongue pulled back a bit behind the teeth. Regional pronunciation differences further complicate matters. Libyans tend to pronounce qaf like a hard g, which has inspired a whole different set of spellings.
In most cases where there is doubt about how to spell somebody's name, the usual journalistic practice is to accept the preference of the namee. For many years, however, the Mummer was too busy promoting global chaos to devote much time to the niceties of orthography. That changed in May, 1986, when he responded to a letter from some second-graders at Maxfield Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota. The colonel signed the letter in Arabic script, beneath which was typed "Moammar El-Gadhafi." This was the first known indication of his own feelings on the subject, and the wire services and many newspapers promptly announced they would switch. But
Time and the
New York Times remain holdouts — which is typical, if you ask me. Someday, I swear, we gotta get organized.
<snip>
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/513/how-are-you-supposed-to-spell-muammar-gaddafi-khadafy-qadhafi
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