Hard And Soft G
In the Latin-based orthographies of many European languages (including English), a distinction between hard and soft ⟨g⟩ occurs in which ⟨g⟩ represents two distinct phonemes. The sound of a hard ⟨g⟩ (which often precedes the non-front vowels ⟨a o u⟩) is usually (as in go) while the sound of a soft ⟨g⟩ (typically before ⟨i e y⟩), depending on language, may be a fricative or affricate. In English, the sound of soft ⟨g⟩ is /dʒ/ (as in George).
Famous quotes containing the words hard and/or soft:
“A man’s social and spiritual discipline must answer to his corporeal. He must lean on a friend who has a hard breast, as he would lie on a hard bed. He must drink cold water for his only beverage. So he must not hear sweetened and colored words, but pure and refreshing truths. He must daily bathe in truth cold as spring water, not warmed by the sympathy of friends.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Once this soft turf, this rivulet’s sands,
Were trampled by a hurrying crowd,”
—William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878)