How do you say “suggest”?
Think about it for a second. Say it slowly if you want. For best results, say each syllable carefully. Because my brain hurts now.
Here’s a Tiktok:
My initial reaction was that it’s /sʌ’dʒɛst/, that is, “suh-JEST”, without a hard /g/. Apparently some people are adamant that it’s /sʌg’dʒɛst/, with the /g/ being barely audible because it slides into the /dʒ/.
But now the more I say it both ways, the more I’m not sure which I would say in careful speech. I know that I don’t say the /g/ when speaking at normal speed, but… does it really just get swallowed by the /dʒ/ (that is /sʌg’dʒɛst/->[sə’dʒɛst]), or has it fallen out of my lexical entry and is only there as a guest?
Let’s talk etymology.
Latin prefixes had a process of assimilation. The best example is in- (which had three common and distinct meanings: negation, internalization, and intensifier), which became im- in front of p, b, or m (important, imbibe, immobile) and iŋ- in front of k or g (incredible, ingrate). Because of a later shift where ŋ becomes n in casual speech (as seen in ing->in’ with gerunds), that iŋ- shift has largely returned to in-, but im- is still all over the place.
sub- did the same thing, but roots starting with k or g that survived to English are less common. Indeed, Onelook only lists suggest and its forms (suggestion, suggestive, etc.) as common words under sugg* that come from sub- + root (suggillation is the only other “common” sugg* word, and that’s from a root sugo, to suck; searching sug* also offers sugar and its forms, but that comes to us from an Arabic word).
However, there are a handful of sub+k words, some of the most prominent being succinct, succeed, succor, and succubus.
Another shift from Latin to English, by way of French, is that g->dʒ and k->s, but only at the beginning of syllables in front of front vowels (/i/ and /e/). Hence, giant and generous and why some people think GIF should have that sound, as well as Celtic and cinch (the latter from Latin cingulum).
Notice that, in succinct and succeed, the shift did not affect the c at the end of the prefix, only at the beginning of the root, hence that /ks/. I have heard “sussinkt” for succinct, but that does seem relatively rare. “susseed” is also acceptable to me, but then it gets too close to “secede” (where the Latin prefix is se-, not sub-). “Sussess” for “success” is an absolute no for me.
Which brings me back to “suggest”. I doubt very many English speakers are aware that this is sub+gest (despite gesture, ingest, and congestion hinting “gest” as a root). Given the uniqueness of sub-g* being just forms of suggest, and the relative difficult of saying /gdʒ/, it’s not a surprise that that particular /g/ would wander off. Still… it’s interesting.