Help please - why the i after g rule doesn't work!!!

[makaveli]

Hi all,

Could you please tell me why the rule in regard pronouncing g as j with i e or y doesn't appear to be very reliable with i. Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!

Many thanks in advance


Mak

[Harry Smith]

Hi all,

Could you please tell me why the rule in regard pronouncing g as j with i e or y doesn't appear to be very reliable with i. Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!

Many thanks in advance


Mak

There are a lot of exceptions in English pronunciation rules. The words "gift, give" are two of them.

[Tdol]

And not only 'i':
Gear

[Harry Smith]

And not only 'i':
Gear

And not only "Gear" but also "get".

[BobK]

Less than a week after the birthday of 'the father of jet propulsion' Frank Whittle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, get is an appropriate example

b

[Casiopea]

Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!

To uncover it, you might have to look into the etymology of each word as well as the history of the English language and historical linguistics. For example, the following two words, below, borrow the Latin prefix gigas- (meaning giant) and it's pronounced with hard G:

hard G: gigabyte
soft G: gigantic

There's also this near minimal pair: soft 'G' gist (from Anglo-French) and hard 'G' gift (Old Norse).

From Word Pronunciation - Hard and Soft C and G Sounds

Exceptions

Nothing is easy - so there are some exceptions to these rules. These mostly involve giving ‘hard’ pronunciation to words where the rule indicates the ‘soft’ sound. These exceptions include:

gear, get, gelding, give, girl, gift tiger,

Present participles of some verbs that end with ‘g’, such as ‘banging’ and ‘ringing’. Other exceptions are foreign words that have been adopted into the English language, such as: gestalt and geisha.

Try these sites too:

Carolyn's Corner

HOW TO USE CONSONANTS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE / LousyWriter.com teaches you how to write better and how to write correctly

[JJM Ballantyne]

"Could you please tell me why the rule in regard pronouncing g as j with i e or y doesn't appear to be very reliable with i. Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!"

Because none of the "rules" for equating English spelling with English pronunciation are very reliable.

Our spelling system evolved in a very haphazard manner and we have resisted pretty well most attempts at reform to make it more standard and "phonetic."

I can offer you no easy method for dealing with this. You'll just have to become familiar with all the eccentric spellings of the written English language like the rest of us.

[RonBee]

"Could you please tell me why the rule in regard pronouncing g as j with i e or y doesn't appear to be very reliable with i. Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!"

Because none of the "rules" for equating English spelling with English pronunciation are very reliable.

Our spelling system evolved in a very haphazard manner and we have resisted pretty well most attempts at reform to make it more standard and "phonetic."

I can offer you no easy method for dealing with this. You'll just have to become familiar with all the eccentric spellings of the written English language like the rest of us.

If you use the "Quote" button when responding to a post people will know exactly what post you are responding to.

~R

[Buddhaheart]

Hi all,

Could you please tell me why the rule in regard pronouncing g as j with i e or y doesn't appear to be very reliable with i. Example i in gift! Should be jift according to the rule but isn't and I can't see a pattern!

Many thanks in advance


Mak

For the various reasons as given by our esteemed respondents, we teach generalizations not (hard-and-fast) rules in phonics. We always emphasize and list exceptions.

[clam36]

I don't understand what you mean about all these rules!Stupid things!!!!