How do you spell “al-Qaeda” (Al-Qaida)?

There are variations, as you have found, because they have been transcribed from a language (Arabic) written in a different script. It is a word which means ‘the base’ and has an equivalent in Hebrew (another Semitic language) where David had his base before he became king, but, sorry, I’ve forgotten it.

There is no absolute “right” way to spell it. That is because the word is a transliteration of a word written in Arabic, which does not use our alphabet.

There are similar problems spelling Chinese words. In their case, however, the Chinese government has issued “correct” ways to spell many important words, including the capital city – Beijing.

If you look in old news accounts (forget how far back the spelling changed), you will find various spellings. The most common two were Peiping (may have it a touch wrong myself, but that’s close) and even Peking. You’ve heard of Peking Duck, maybe?

Peking is based on the pronunciation in Hong Kong (Canton) Chinese, which is close to “bach ghing” that’s a hard g. Beijing is based on the Mandarin pronunciation.

In written Chinese there is no difference. The difference is only in how the words are pronounced from one part of China to another.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but I had a hard time stopping myself. 🙂

Al-Qaeda is the right spell.

It is name of organization which refers to some group of people.

Spelling doesn’t really have anything to do with it

B-U-S-H