żebagħ

• żeba’ (variant; see usage notes below)

From Arabic صَبَغَ (ṣabaḡa), with generalisation of the regular assimilation [sb] → [zb].

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛ.baħ/

żebagħ (imperfect jiżbogħ, past participle miżbugħ, verbal noun żbigħ)

1. to colour, paint, varnish, dye (apply colour to, in any context)

• There are three sets of realisations for the forms of this verb:
  • The older state, retained by some contemporary speakers, is that the devoiced sound /ħ/ is used only in the syllable coda, while għ is vowelised before the endings -et and -u.
  • Other speakers have generalised either devoicing or vowelisation, meaning they pronounce all forms of żebagħ with /ħ/, or use the variant żeba’.