etymology - Why is "agnostic" pronounced "ag-gnostic" as opposed to "a-gnostic"?


Gnosticism, for example, is obviously not pronounced with a hard g. As far as I know the modern English use of agnostic is said to have originated with Thomas Huxley, who surely would have been aware of the correct pronunciation.


Is there some odd rule or quirk that explains this? Or has it simply been repeated enough that people now consider it to be the standard pronunciation?




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