this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023
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Finally, my degree in old English dialects is useful!
It’s extraordinarily lucky for you then that “gif” entered the English language on or around the PM period during ca. June 15, 1987.
gif
Etymology: From Proto-Germanic jabai (when, if) with anomalous apocope. The expected form is attested once as ġyfe in the early 7th-century Law of Æthelberht, if not simply a scribal error.
Conjunction: ġif
Descendants: Middle English: if, yif, yef
Therefore, "gif" is pronounced with a Y
Edit: Yes, this was a very long way to go for a furry joke