What's new
By:

Stupid Pet Peeves

colton said:
While you are correct that there are some cases where a g followed by an i is pronounced as a "hard g", those are in fact exceptions to the rule. The general rule is this:

If the following letter is ‘E’, ‘I’ or ‘Y’, the pronunciation is said to be “soft”
from https://esl.about.com/od/speakingintermediate/a/hardsoftcg.htm

the soft "g" occurs when the "g" comes before the letters "e", "i" or "y", and the hard "g" occurs elsewhere.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:List_of_English_words_where_G_is_pronounced_exceptionally

When c or g meets a, o, or u, its sound is hard. When c or g meets e, i, or y, its sound is soft.
https://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0903396.html

Soft g before a front vowel if the word has a Romance origin (geography, giant, ginger, general)
https://theweek.com/articles/463959/why-are-there-two-pronunciations-letter-g

General Rules - If the g is followed by e, i, or y, the pronunciation is “soft g”. If the g is followed by any other letter (than e, i, y), the pronunciation is “hard g”.
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-two-sounds-of-g/

Those are the top 5 search results on https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=when to pronounce soft g.

Sources agree universally on this, without exception as far as I could find.

Therefore, the default pronunciation should be "jif", and it would have to be an exception to the rule to be pronounced with a hard g. Especially since that's how the person who invented the word said it should be pronounced!

Just for good measure, here's a list of "gi" words with soft g to counter your list:

giant
gibberish
giblet
Gibraltar
gigantic
gin
ginger
gingerly
ginormous
giraffe


And if you want more words, one can easily think of other soft g ones like this:

generous
geography
gel
gerbil
general
gym
gypsy
gyrate
gyroscope
Click to expand...

Lots of wrong things here. I'll start from bottom Giblet to a person not knowing the word will use a hard g (likely due to the similar spelled "goblet").

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/giblet

Both are acceptable.

We're talking about /ɪ/ here and not the diphthong i, so giant, ginormous, and gigantic are irrelevant and unusable examples. "y" is the indicator that the word is spoken with /dʒ/, so any gy HELPS the cause that "gi" is /gɪ/. Any other vowel sound is irrelevant since all we're concerned with is /ɪ/. Allophonic rules in other languages support this. ㅅ in Korean is /s/ except when followed by the letter 이 (forming 시), which is /i/. /s/ then becomes /ʃ/. For every other phoneme, it remains /s/.

Gibraltar is a proper noun from another language, so it's a poor example.

So, in the end, the VAST MAJORITY of "gi-" words with /ɪ/ as its vowel use the voiced velar stop and not the voiced alveolar affricate. "g" in the middle or end of words is irrelevant since different rule sets apply.

"gif" is not a Roman origin, so that "rule" doesn't apply, adding to the irrelevancy of middle to end syllabic allophonic rules of the letter "g" (allophonic rule for the g in "magic" to be /dʒ/ doesn't apply to the case of a primary g, for example). Thus, pretty much all five links provided are poor examples of explaining why "gif" shouldn't be pronounced /gɪf/.

Finally, language defined is something spoken that is understood by the sender and the receiver. The creator is only half the equation. If the creator creates a word no one accepts or understands, it doesn't exist, thus the creator's intention is only partially relevant and not a deterministic factor in determining an "official" pronunciation.
 
Broncster said:
I always immediately through them on the ground and hope they get in trouble for littering.
Click to expand...

Yes I use to do this. Then I realize two assholes do not make a vagina so now I just throw them away at home. why are they allow to pollute my vehicle in first place? Can I advertise my dog poop removal business by throwing dog **** with a business card into your lawn?
 
colton said:
While you are correct that there are some cases where a g followed by an i is pronounced as a "hard g", those are in fact exceptions to the rule. The general rule is this:

If the following letter is ‘E’, ‘I’ or ‘Y’, the pronunciation is said to be “soft”
from https://esl.about.com/od/speakingintermediate/a/hardsoftcg.htm

the soft "g" occurs when the "g" comes before the letters "e", "i" or "y", and the hard "g" occurs elsewhere.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:List_of_English_words_where_G_is_pronounced_exceptionally

When c or g meets a, o, or u, its sound is hard. When c or g meets e, i, or y, its sound is soft.
https://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0903396.html

Soft g before a front vowel if the word has a Romance origin (geography, giant, ginger, general)
https://theweek.com/articles/463959/why-are-there-two-pronunciations-letter-g

General Rules - If the g is followed by e, i, or y, the pronunciation is “soft g”. If the g is followed by any other letter (than e, i, y), the pronunciation is “hard g”.
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-two-sounds-of-g/

Those are the top 5 search results on https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=when to pronounce soft g.

Sources agree universally on this, without exception as far as I could find.

Therefore, the default pronunciation should be "jif", and it would have to be an exception to the rule to be pronounced with a hard g. Especially since that's how the person who invented the word said it should be pronounced!

Just for good measure, here's a list of "gi" words with soft g to counter your list:

giant
gibberish
giblet
Gibraltar
gigantic
gin
ginger
gingerly
ginormous
giraffe


And if you want more words, one can easily think of other soft g ones like this:

generous
geography
gel
gerbil
general
gym
gypsy
gyrate
gyroscope
Click to expand...

Do you happen to be a teacher?
 
Darkwing Duck said:
Finally, language defined is something spoken that is understood by the sender and the receiver. The creator is only half the equation. If the creator creates a word no one accepts or understands, it doesn't exist, thus the creator's intention is only partially relevant and not a deterministic factor in determining an "official" pronunciation.
Click to expand...

I think I get the gist of what you are saying.
 
colton said:
I thought "gist" was actually the more applicable word, seeing as how it starts with a "gi"...
Click to expand...

I was just following the 2nd rule you quoted....soft g if it follows an e. I figured that was what you meant. ;)
 
colton said:
Good, because you're wrong. :)

But see my Linux reply to loggrad. The fact is abbreviations and compound words can take on a life of their own and don't have to be pronounced like the words from which they sprang.
Click to expand...

I see your point...

And I still don't care.

I'd like to reiterate that whether or not I'm right is irrelevant. The stated purpose of the thread is to document pet peeves, not to determine whether they are justified. I appreciate the conversation this has generated, but like I said, even if I am flat out wrong, hearing it pronounced "JIF" still gets my joat.


Sent from my iPhone using JazzFanz mobile app
 
I think I'll stick with G-I-F (like P-D-F) so I won't offend anyone. I haven't known how to pronounce it and i just spell it instead. Rarely comes up in my conversations anyway.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using JazzFanz mobile app
 
While dropping off my kids at school today the person in front of me pulls up to the mega busy four-way intersection in front of the school and starts looking at her phone, completely oblivious that it's her turn to go. The other three are staring at her like WTF. Then on the way out I was still behind her and she did it again! This time two of the others honked at her. Of course her new car had a couple of dents in it.
 
str8line said:
While dropping off my kids at school today the person in front of me pulls up to the mega busy four-way intersection in front of the school and starts looking at her phone, completely oblivious that it's her turn to go. The other three are staring at her like WTF. Then on the way out I was still behind her and she did it again! This time two of the others honked at her. Of course her new car had a couple of dents in it.
Click to expand...

Follow her home and scratch the hell out of her car. I'm the founding member of the Key a Car a Day campaign. Makes me feel like a better person.
 
Sometimes when I see a car that is parked right along the line between parking spots I like to play a game I call "Who can get close to the line?" I went to the store the other day and had the perfect WCGC game set-up, which is when they park close on the driver's side of their car. So I do a pretty good job but they other guy was the winner because he actually had a tire touching the line and I was a good 4-5" off the line. I went inside and did my shopping. As I'm walking to my car I see the other car is still there and someone is walking in that direction and they start saying "what the heck?" They are checking to see who won the game when I get to my car. They say "how's this?" and I ask them who's closer to the line as I get in my car and back out while they stand there waiting for me to leave so they have room to get in on the driver's side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page
Back
Top