Meanwhile the Kadesh explanation has the difficulty of the initial consonant being voiceless, whereas Gadir and Gades both have it voiced. This is a common sound change for languages evolving over time, but for a direct borrow there is no reason for the change to be made considering that Latin had both sounds.
The Romans adopted the name that was most commonly used for that city.
A bit like the city I was born in, 's-Gravenhage, which is most times shortened to Den Haag. And that name has been translated into every other language (The Hague, La Haye, and so on).
Another known example is Jerusalem, which is also known as Zion, and Al-Quds (=Holy City).
This is what Gadir means:
Gadir (Phoenician: גדר), the original name given to the outpost established here by the Phoenicians, means "wall, compound", or, more generally, "walled stronghold". The Punic dialect lent this word, along with many others, to the Berber languages, where it was nativised as agadir meaning "wall" in Tamazight and "fortified granary" in Shilha; it appears as a common place name in North Africa. The name of the Israeli town of Gedera has a similar etymology.
Later, the city became known by a similar Attic Greek form of the Phoenician name, τὰ Γάδειρα (Gádeira). In Ionic Greek, the name is spelled slightly differently, Γήδειρα (Gḗdeira). This spelling appears in the histories written by Herodotus. Rarely, the name is spelled ἡ Γαδείρα (Gadeíra), as, for example, in the writings of Eratosthenes (as attested by Stephanus of Byzantium).
In Latin, the city was known as gades; in Arabic, it is called قادس (Qādis). The Spanish autonym for a resident of Cadiz is gaditano.
Btw, K, Q, and G are all voiceless consonants:
And a famous example of a shift from K to G (or CH) is our word chemistry which came from al kimia. I know that in English this CH still sounds like a K, but not in my language where this CH is pronounced like the CH in Loch Ness.
Edited by Abramelin, 31 January 2013 - 12:59 PM.