Definition:Gillion/Linguistic Note
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Linguistic Note on Gillion
The word gillion derives from the metric scaling prefix giga- coupled with the generic suffix -illion to indicate a power of $10$.
Its pronunciation is ambiguous. The initial g can be either hard, as in gate, or soft, as in general (hence giving the pronunciation jill-i-on).
A purist would prefer the hard g, as it matches with the conventional pronunciation of giga-.
However, in certain variants of the English language, giga- itself can also apparently be pronounced with the g soft.