Buzz
Oscar Tay:
Oh dear, this is sure to be the most contentious thing I’ve ever written. I wish we could just embrace our tomopotatine differences, be more understanding of alternative perspectives, and find a way to coexist peacefully. But alas, it’s pronounced with a soft 'g,' you thoughtless misacronymers.
Let’s first hear from the opposing view—those who support Sven Williams in his response to this question argue that it should start with the hard 'g' of misguided. The most widely heard reason for the hard-g-GIF pronunciation is that GIF stands for 'graphics interchange format,' and therefore should follow the hard 'g' sound, like in graphics.
The issue with this is that acronyms don’t work like that: They’re pronounced based on the standard pronunciation rules for words, which I covered in detail here. A well-known counterexample is JPEG, which stands for 'Joint Photographic Experts Group'; according to the hard-g-graphics argument, you should pronounce 'JPEG' as jay-pheg instead of the widely accepted jay-peg due to the 'ph' in photographic.
The website Howtoreallypronouncegif.com, advocating for the hard-gif, claims that most single-syllable English words beginning with a “g” make the hard 'g' sound:
Gab. Gad. Gag. Gal. Gam. Gap. Gas. Gay. Get. Gig. Gill. Gimp. Gird. Girl. Git!
Give. Go. Goal. Gob. God. Gone. Gore. Got. Guide. Guild. Guilt. Gull.
Gulp. Gum. Gun. Gust. Gut. Guy. The word “gift” comes closest to GIF, and it uses the hard G. To pronounce GIF, simply say gift without the 't.'
The website then unconvincingly dismisses gin, gem, gym, geo, and gel, claiming that gin comes from Dutch, making it somehow irrelevant, that gem comes from Latin gemma, thus somehow unimportant, and that the remaining three don’t count because they’re abbreviations of longer words.
These arguments are easily debunked by those who know the true pronunciation is with the soft 'g' as in legitimate. The soft-gif supporters are proud to have the original creator of the GIF, Steve Wilhite, on our side. In his 2013 Webby Awards acceptance speech, he offered these five words of wisdom:
I’ll let that speak for itself. Still not convinced?
In the FAQs from CompuServe, it is explicitly stated that 'The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), pronounced "JIF," was created by CompuServe and the official specification was released in June 1987.'
Beyond this overwhelming display of truth, there are plenty of strong arguments in favor of the softer pronunciation. Howtoreallypronouncegif.com argues that the soft-gif is unintuitive, and that most people instinctively say hard-gif when first encountering the acronym, making 'jif' seem wrong.
Not so, we argue; there are countless tricky words we must learn to pronounce correctly as we grow older: yacht, chthonic, colonel, epitome, syncope, Worcestershire, and so forth. There's no valid reason why gif can’t be one of these—and, truth be told, it’s as understandable as gin, which the crafty Howtoreallypronouncegif.com dismisses without justification.
We have every reason, both prescriptive and logical, to believe that soft-gif—the jif, the shining symbol of truth in the ongoing internet wars—is the one true pronunciation. With that, I rest my case; take from it what you will.
Now, objectively speaking, neither pronunciation is entirely correct. Both hard- and soft-gifs are widely used. As Daniel Ross explains in greater detail here, linguists are meant to observe how language is actually used, not how it should be used. Therefore, the question as posed won’t help you any more than the discussion on 'How do you pronounce "GIF"?'.
This response is mostly tongue-in-cheek, as you may have guessed. I do prefer the soft-gif, but there's no major issue with the other pronunciation. Both sides have their merits, and I’ve outlined some of them above. Ultimately, it boils down to what you and your friends decide to say. According to The New York Times:
"Cultures generally associate a “standard” pronunciation with higher status. Mispronouncing a word—even a technical term—can lead to feelings of embarrassment and inadequacy. If people believe there’s a logical reason for their pronunciation, they’re unlikely to abandon it."
Nevertheless, I still stand by my reasons for supporting soft-gif. To answer your question, both pronunciations are technically fine, but if you say it with a hard “g,” I do think you’re quite mistaken.
This post originally appeared on Quora. Click here to view.
