Post a picture, argue with me!

Tanglebones wrote:
Demosthenes wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Some words in English that start with a g are pronounced with a hard G.

Some words in English that start with a g are pronounced with a soft G.

I don't understand where the confusion comes from. Are people really unaware of this?

I think it is all a goke.

Aye dunt now wut yuur saiyin?

Eye luv ewe two.

Because if it was that obvious that it was meant to be a soft g sound then the photo could get away with saying "It's pronounced gif".

Ok try this one for size.

The g in gif stands for graphic. And we don't pronounce graphic jraphic.

Choosy moms choose GIF.

Just wanted to jump in to say that they teach first graders to pronounce 'j' when a g comes before i or e.

Also, gif is an acronym. I pronounce it 'gee-eye-eff'.

stupidhaiku wrote:

Just wanted to jump in to say that they teach first graders to pronounce 'j' when a g comes before i or e.

Also, gif is an acronym. I pronounce it 'gee-eye-eff'.

Again: "gift." If teachers are telling first-graders to call presents "jifts" then they're doing those students a great disservice

strangederby wrote:

Because if it was that obvious...

Woah, wait: let's not move the goalposts to this from what you originally said which was "that makes no sense."

...that it was meant to be a soft g sound then the photo could get away with saying "It's pronounced gif".

Ok try this one for size.

The g in gif stands for graphic. And we don't pronounce graphic jraphic.

That answers the other question you originally asked: "Why did they spell it with a g if they didn't want people to pronounce it gif?"

WipEout wrote:
stupidhaiku wrote:

Just wanted to jump in to say that they teach first graders to pronounce 'j' when a g comes before i or e.

Also, gif is an acronym. I pronounce it 'gee-eye-eff'.

Again: "gift." If teachers are telling first-graders to call presents "jifts" then they're doing those students a great disservice ;)

Again: "giraffe."

Poking around a bit into the rules of English phonics and that rule vs. the pronunciation of "gift", I found:

In English orthography, the pronunciation of hard ⟨g⟩ is /ɡ/ and that of soft ⟨g⟩ is /dʒ/; in a number of French loanwords, soft ⟨g⟩ is /ʒ/. In word roots of non-Germanic origin, the soft ⟨g⟩ pronunciation occurs before ⟨i e y⟩ while the hard ⟨g⟩ pronunciation occurs elsewhere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_an...

gift[/b] (n.) Look up gift at Dictionary.com
mid-13c. (c.1100 in surnames), [b]from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse gift, gipt "gift, good luck," from Proto-Germanic *giftiz (cf. Old Saxon gift, Old Frisian jefte, Middle Dutch ghifte "gift," German Mitgift "dowry"), from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive" (see habit).

http://etymonline.com/?term=gift

English is the bastard child of the Indo-European tree. We don't do "rules".

IMAGE(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvl7j7CkoM1r52jcoo1_500.jpg)

IMAGE(http://ih0.redbubble.net/image.13249781.7122/sticker,375x360.u1.png)

I love the ghoti example, but English is surprisingly rule oriented. The ABCs and All Their Tricks is a good reference book on the rules and exceptions to them.

As for giraffe, the ir is a team that makes one sound, so it really isn't a good example.

CheezePavilion wrote:
WipEout wrote:
stupidhaiku wrote:

Just wanted to jump in to say that they teach first graders to pronounce 'j' when a g comes before i or e.

Also, gif is an acronym. I pronounce it 'gee-eye-eff'.

Again: "gift." If teachers are telling first-graders to call presents "jifts" then they're doing those students a great disservice ;)

Again: "giraffe."

Poking around a bit into the rules of English phonics and that rule vs. the pronunciation of "gift", I found:

In English orthography, the pronunciation of hard ⟨g⟩ is /ɡ/ and that of soft ⟨g⟩ is /dʒ/; in a number of French loanwords, soft ⟨g⟩ is /ʒ/. In word roots of non-Germanic origin, the soft ⟨g⟩ pronunciation occurs before ⟨i e y⟩ while the hard ⟨g⟩ pronunciation occurs elsewhere
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_an...

gift[/b] (n.) Look up gift at Dictionary.com
mid-13c. (c.1100 in surnames), [b]from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse gift, gipt "gift, good luck," from Proto-Germanic *giftiz (cf. Old Saxon gift, Old Frisian jefte, Middle Dutch ghifte "gift," German Mitgift "dowry"), from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive" (see habit).

http://etymonline.com/?term=gift

Oh, I don't disagree. I was only poking fun at the idea that hardlining that rule with first-graders is doing them a disservice, as there are clear exceptions.

strangederby wrote:

The g in gif stands for graphic. And we don't pronounce graphic jraphic.

Exactly.

And this is why developers should never be allowed to name things.

WipEout wrote:

Oh, I don't disagree. I was only poking fun at the idea that hardlining that rule with first-graders is doing them a disservice, as there are clear exceptions.

Hard-lining almost any rule having to do with English grammar or spelling is doing them a disservice, but you have to start somewhere. And, you have to know the base cases before you can learn the edge cases. Teaching them to recognize whether a word is of German origin or Latin origin would be pretty ridiculous, too.

Agent 86 wrote:

IMAGE(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvl7j7CkoM1r52jcoo1_500.jpg)

This is a strictly no-prouncing forum. You take that elsewhere, buddy.

English wrote:

HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!
oft Scyld Scefing sceaþena þreatum,
monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas, syððanærest wearð
feasceaft funden; he þæs frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum weorðmyndum þah,
oð þæt him æghwylc ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan; þæt wæs god cyning!
Ðæm eafera wæs æfter cenned
geong in geardum, þone God sende
folce to frofre; fyrenðearfe ongeat,
þe hie ær drugon aldorlease
lange hwile; him þæs Liffrea,
wuldres Wealdend woroldare forgeaf,
Beowulf wæs breme --- blæd wide sprang---
Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in.

English wrote:

O mosy quince, hangyng by your stalke,
The whyche no man dar pluk away ner take,
Of all the folk that passe forby or walke,
Your flowres fresshe be fallyn away and shake.
I am ryght sory, masteras, for your sake,
Ye seme a thyng that all men have forgotyn;
Ye be so rype ye wex almost rotyn.

Wyne, women, worshyp, unweldy age,
Make men to fonne for lak in theyr resons:
Elde causeth dulnesse and dotage,
And worshyp, chaunge of condicions;
Excesse of wyne blyndeth theyre dyscrecions,
And all bookes that poetes made and radde
Seyen women most make men madde!

a) I think it's safe to consider that difference in pronunciation a dialect feature now. Plenty of people on both sides. So: They're [em]both[/em] right.
b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

Hypatian wrote:

b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

Stop what?

Hypatian wrote:

They're [em]both[/em] right.

In the name of the Order of the Red Pen, I endorse this statement.

Hypatian wrote:

a) I think it's safe to consider that difference in pronunciation a dialect feature now. Plenty of people on both sides. So: They're [em]both[/em] right.
b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

But is that pronounced 'God' or 'Jod'?

Rallick wrote:
Hypatian wrote:

a) I think it's safe to consider that difference in pronunciation a dialect feature now. Plenty of people on both sides. So: They're [em]both[/em] right.
b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

But is that pronounced 'God' or 'Jod'?

Zod:
IMAGE(http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_medium/0/669/94993-82220-general-zod.jpeg)

Tanglebones wrote:
Rallick wrote:
Hypatian wrote:

a) I think it's safe to consider that difference in pronunciation a dialect feature now. Plenty of people on both sides. So: They're [em]both[/em] right.
b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

But is that pronounced 'God' or 'Jod'?

Zod

Ȝod

muttonchop wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
Rallick wrote:
Hypatian wrote:

a) I think it's safe to consider that difference in pronunciation a dialect feature now. Plenty of people on both sides. So: They're [em]both[/em] right.
b) OH MY GOD, STOP.

But is that pronounced 'God' or 'Jod'?

Zod

Ȝod

Ȝ --> butt

Ȝ <-- finger

I love the ghoti example, but I saw another one in a redditor's user name that was like 20 characters or something and it boiled down to a very small word. Now I can't find it.

As a former software developer, I can't help but follow the dictates of the guy who invented Graphics Interchange Format. Maybe he had a cleft palate or something, which made it hard for him to say words with hard g's in them. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

BadKen wrote:

I love the ghoti example, but I saw another one in a redditor's user name that was like 20 characters or something and it boiled down to a very small word. Now I can't find it.

As a former software developer, I can't help but follow the dictates of the guy who invented Graphics Interchange Format. Maybe he had a cleft palate or something, which made it hard for him to say words with hard g's in them. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Dunno about that, but John Scalzi's cat, Ghlaghghee, is pronounced 'fluffy'

Aha! Found it: GHOUGHPHTHEIGHTTEEAU

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/xnvl7tc.jpg)

Hiccough?

Yeah, it's apparently legit. I'd never seen it spelled as such until now, though.

Scyld waes god cyning, but Beowulf waes just breme, yo.

WipEout wrote:

Yeah, it's apparently legit. I'd never seen it spelled as such until now, though.

I've only seen it spelled that way in British works.