• tyler@programming.dev
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    6 days ago

    That’s just incorrect. Multiple studies have shown that how you think a word is pronounced is based on other words you know, not what the actual pronunciation is. When I first saw the word gif, I pronounced it with a soft g. Turns out that’s the correct pronunciation (because it’s a product name, not a random word) but if I had happen to have heard a hard g word more recently then I probably would have thought it was pronounced the wrong way.

    • Grimy@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      The closest word to gif is gift for me. I think that’s the conclusion most come to and why the hard G is the most common.

      A pronunciation that is common and widespread becomes the correct way to say something. Languages are constantly evolving and in movement. They don’t care for what a few or even the words creator want.

      • tyler@programming.dev
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        5 days ago

        I think that’s the conclusion most come to and why the hard G is the most common.

        You’re literally just making up things at this point. Just because you thought that does not mean even a slight minority thought or thinks that.

          • tyler@programming.dev
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            5 days ago

            You’re just changing the conversation. You said “the closest word is gift… that’s the conclusion most come to”. Which is just not provable. The reason the number is so high for hard g (I have a different survey that says 51% in that same year) is because people like you thinking that you know the “rules” of English and then telling everyone to pronounce it hard g. So their first encounter with the word is literally someone pronouncing it wrong. It has nothing to do with them associating it with “gift”.

            Edit: you’re not even the person I was talking to so you’re definitely stepping in and saying things that have nothing to do with the convo.

            • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
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              5 days ago

              you’re not even the person I was talking to

              Correct. You are having a conversation in a public forum. If you want a private conversation take it to PMs. I was replying to the specific thing you said that I quoted.

              The fact that you could not follow that despite me quoting the relevant sentence, and did not notice I was a different person, shows you are not paying attention to what is actually being said.