The żaqq (in Maltese pronounced as /zɐʔ/) is the most common form of Maltese bagpipes, and was once associated with Maltese folk festivals.[1]
The use of the żaqq in daily life came to an end in the 1970s, the instrument having been perhaps replaced by the accordion earlier in the century.[2] In 1977 the Galpin Society noted only nine remaining traditional pipers in Malta; the last of these, Toni "l-Hammarun" Cachia, died in 2004.[3] Various folk music ensembles such as Etnika have attempted to revive the instrument.
It is sometimes erroneously referred to as the zapp due to a spelling error in a 1939 English-language publication. The Maltese word żaqq literally means "sack" or "belly" and derives from Arabic ("skin" [as a receptacle]). is sometimes stated that żaqq derives from Italian Italian: zampogna but this is not the case.