gyros to gyroscope to gyre and gimble

[Elder Daniel Evans]

>
> This reminds me of Jabberwocky.  I tend to say "dZire and gimble in the
> wabe" (i.e., soft g on gyre, hard on gimble), but sometimes I say both as
> hard.  This often strikes my students as odd, but they tend to be split
> about whether the g's are both hard or both soft.  Is there an "official"
> pronunciation?
>
> Lynne

> Yes, there is. Carroll himself established it  in his _Author's Preface_
> dated Christmas, 1896.

    "The new words in the poem 'Jabberwocky' have given rise to some
differences of opinion as to their pronunciation: so it may be well to give
instructions on  _that_  point also. Pronounce "slithy" as if it were the two
words "sly, the"; make the "g" hard in "gyre" and "gimble"; and pronounce
"rath" to rhyme with "bath."

Daniel Evans