Sky News

[tamaris]

Sarah Hewson now talking about the Taliban taking over and advancing to Kabul. Why does she pronounce Taliban as Valiban ?

[emmie]

perhaps she can't pronounce her T's...

[bobbinwales]

Too late but she did just twice omit the g in saying 'afhanistan'. I heard the woman before say talisman.
It's not unusual for Asians to pronounce some letters diffrent w for v and rfor l someone like that

[bobbinwales]

I typed talivan not talisman

[THECORBYLOON]

That isn't Sarah Hewson and she's pronouncing it similar to, "Tahlibahn".

[tamaris]

I thought not but it came up as her in the info

[bobbinwales]

The main newsreaders definitely saying Valiban to my ears

[bobbinwales]

I can hear what you mean now thecorbyloon. More of a th than a v -thaalibahn.
But shes perfectly understandable obviously taliban in the context .
Shame Pritty Patel didn't make more effort on the Plymouth shootings interview- 'shockin and devastatin'

[Peter Pedant]

oh, طالبان‎, romanized: ṭālibān, lit. 'students'
well spotted

Phonetics - we know that languages have sounds we dont - french Parfum, danger as danger or dawn-jair etc....

and we have sounds there rest of Europe dont ( breath, breathe)
and the awful bottle pronounced as bo''l ( essex) which DOES have a letter in arabic ( Hamza). we have difft sounds with one letter - say 'spit' there is a soft h after the P - not present in other words. These are different in Hindi where you can aspirate any letter ( god)

BUT - - Arabic and pushto - have two t's which are different to them and the same to us. These are called allophones.
tay and ta.... one is the t in tea ت and the other you are distinguishing as the /v/ in Taliban ط.....

well spotted. oh and thanks I hadnt realised the word of student or learner or seeker after troot - taalib
was pluralised and used for terrorist.....

[jno]

PP, I remember the US hostages in Iran back in the 1970s were always said to be held by "students". I always used to wonder when they got any swotting done.

[jno]

interesting, Cambridge Dictionary says UK pronunciation sounds more like haliban but Americans pronounce the T clearly

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/taliban

[Gromit]

The Taleban originated in Northern Pakistan, and were the product of Saudi Arabia setting up Wahhabi schools teaching their extreme Islam. The pupils were to become the jihadists we now know as the Taleban.