2006-10-27 06:20:31 · 3 answers · asked by Jon C 6 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
I'm not serious, just being stupid
2006-10-27 07:40:43 · update #1
Because the G in finger makes a "hard" g sound and the G in Ginger makes a "soft" G sound.
2006-10-27 06:23:46 · answer #1 · answered by Moebuggy 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because unlike most phoenetic languages, English has several "exceptions".
My guess is, they have different origins from different languages.
Guess confirmed: finger is from Old English "fingar", while ginger's origin is "gingivere".
Since the "-ger" in "ginger" derived from a word containing "-gin-" instead (the second "gin" in "ginginvere"), the soft g sound carried over.
At least, that's my guess.
But to illustrate the absurdity of similarly-spelled words sounding different...
bough (bow)
cough (coff)
dough (doe)
rough (ruff)
through (throo)
2006-10-27 15:05:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Finger sounds like Fin ger
Ginger sounds like Gin jer
2006-10-27 13:23:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋