Fricative voicing wasn’t phonemic in Old English, and ‹v› wasn’t a letter: OE
giefan, giefen > MidE
ȝevan, ȝeoven > ModE
give but
gift. Except for
offer with its complex history, all
‑ffer words in English are new, for one letter sufficed. Compare Modern “short vowels” in
clever cover giver glover hover lever liver lover never plover river sever shiver shover siever sliver skiver stiver tiver with Modern “long vowels” in
braver clover fever fiver lever mover over prover quaver raver Rover saver shaver shriver skiver slaver stiver stover swaver syver taver thriver trover waver. —
tchrist ♦ 3 mins ago