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, hard and/or soft:
“Everyone judges plays as if they were very easy to write. They don’t know that it is hard to write a good play, and twice as hard and tortuous to write a bad one.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“People think that if a man has undergone any hardship, he should have a reward; but for my part, if I have done the hardest possible day’s work, and then come to sit down in a corner and eat my supper comfortably—why, then I don’t think I deserve any reward for my hard day’s work—for am I not now at peace? Is not my supper good?”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“Ellie: By the way, what’s your name?
Peter: What’s that?
Ellie: Who are you?
Peter: Who, me? I’m the whippoorwill that cries in the night. I’m the soft morning breeze that caresses your lovely face.
Ellie: You’ve got a name, haven’t you?
Peter: Yeah, I got a name. Peter Warne.
Ellie: Peter Warne? I don’t like it.”
—Robert Riskin (1897–1955)