@delitomatoes@lemm.ee to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world • 2 years agoIf you nicknamed a Giraffe "Giff" how would you pronounce it?message-square19fedilinkarrow-up167arrow-down124
arrow-up143arrow-down1message-squareIf you nicknamed a Giraffe "Giff" how would you pronounce it?@delitomatoes@lemm.ee to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world • 2 years agomessage-square19fedilink
minus-squareϻеƌųʂɑlinkfedilinkEnglish1•2 years ago“Giraffe” etymologistically speaking has roots in the Middle East, giving it a “je” sound: jarraf, zarafa, et al spoiler “ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا (zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا (zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا (pā, “leg”)”. So if it’s “Giff” like “giraffe” - /dʒɪf/ - soft g like “George”. If it’s named after someone with a name like Kathy Lee Gifford, then hard G.
“Giraffe” etymologistically speaking has roots in the Middle East, giving it a “je” sound: jarraf, zarafa, et al
spoiler
“ultimately from Persian زُرنَاپَا (zurnāpā), a compound of زُرنَا (zurnā, “flute, zurna”) and پَا (pā, “leg”)”.
So if it’s “Giff” like “giraffe” - /dʒɪf/ - soft g like “George”. If it’s named after someone with a name like Kathy Lee Gifford, then hard G.