Hard and soft G in Dutch

For the usage in other languages, see Hard and soft G.

In the Dutch language the terminology hard and soft ⟨g⟩ (Dutch: harde en zachte G) refers to not only a phonological phenomenon of the pronunciation of the letters ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ but also indicates a major isogloss within the language. In the northern part of the European Dutch language area, these letters represent velar or uvular fricatives ([ɣ] and [χ], respectively), the so-called hard G. In the southern part of the European Dutch language area, however, these represent palatal fricatives ([ʝ] and ç), the so-called soft G.

Pronunciation

Overview

• Northern Dutch / hard ⟨g⟩ pronunciation:
  • ⟨g⟩ represents [ɣ], a voiced velar fricative
  • ⟨ch⟩ represents [χ], a voiceless uvular fricative
• Southern Dutch (incl. Belgian/Flemish) / soft ⟨g⟩ pronunciation:
  • ⟨g⟩ represents [ʝ], a voiced palatal fricative
  • ⟨ch⟩ represents [ç], voiceless palatal fricative

Examples

Symbol	Example
IPA		orthography	Gloss
[χ] (North)	[ɑχt]	acht	'eight'
[ç] (South)	[ɑçt]
[ɣ] (North)	[ɣaːn]	gaan	'to go'
[ʝ] (South)	[ʝaːn]

Geographical distribution

The hard ⟨g⟩ is primarily used in the northern part of the Dutch language area in Europe, namely The Netherlands (that is, in all regions except the ones mentioned under the soft G category)

The soft ⟨g⟩ is primarily used in the southern part of the Dutch language area in Europe namely:

• The Netherlands
  • Provinces of Limburg and Noord-Brabant
  • Parts of the province of Gelderland namely the Bommelerwaard, Betuwe, the region surrounding and including Nijmegen, Land van Maas en Waal, the southern part of the Veluwe and the Achterhoek
  • Southeastern part of the province of Utrecht
• All of Dutch-speaking Belgium (Flanders)

See also

• Dutch phonology