Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!optilink!brad
From: brad@optilink.UUCP (Brad Yearwood)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Pronunciation of giga
Message-ID: <4442@optilink.UUCP>
Date: 15 Sep 90 03:35:41 GMT
References: <29352@netnews.upenn.edu>
Organization: Optilink Corporation, Petaluma, CA
Lines: 20

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary in its pronunciation for the
entry "giga-" shows \'jig-@, 'gig-@\.  Their Guide to Pronunciation
states:

  Variant pronunciations are separated by commas...  The order of variants
  does not mean that the first is in any way preferable to or more acceptable
  than the others. ... If evidence reveals that a particular variant is used
  more frequently than another, the former will be given first. ... In many
  cases the numerical distribution of variants is equal but one of them, of
  course, must be printed first.

This dictionary indicates that "giga-" is derived from the Greek, without
having passed through old French or Latin (as "giant" has).  Greek, to my
knowledge, has no "j" sound, so "jiga-" is a pronunciation not very faithful
to the nearest origin of the word.  But it is a pronunciation natural at first
sight for an English speaker more familiar with "giant" than with words closer
to the Greek.  The dictionary records "jiga-" because people use it, and not
because it is in some sense either superior or (as I believe) inferior.

Brad Yearwood   {uunet, pyramid}!optilink!brad     Petaluma, California