Page "Metric prefix" Paragraph 34

There are two accepted pronunciations for the prefix giga -: and.

According to the American writer Kevin Self, in the 1920s a German committee member of the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed giga-as a prefix for 10 < sup > 9 </ sup >, drawing on a verse by the humorous poet Christian Morgenstern that appeared in the third ( 1908 ) edition of Galgenlieder ( Gallows Songs ).

This suggests a hard German g was originally intended as the pronunciation.

Self was unable to ascertain at what point the ( soft g ) pronunciation became accepted, but as of 1995 current practice had returned to ( hard g ).