Hard and soft G in Dutch

In Southern Dutch, the phonemes {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} are either cardinal velars {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|x}}, {{IPAplink|ɣ}}]}} or post-palatal {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ç|ç̠}}, {{IPAplink|ʝ|ʝ̠}}]}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1982}}{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003}} More specifically, post-palatals occur in contact with phonemic front vowels and {{IPA|/ə/}}, whereas the cardinal velars occur in contact with phonemic back vowels (including {{IPA|/aː/}} and {{IPA|/ɑ/}}).{{sfnp|Heijmans|Gussenhoven|1998}}{{sfnp|Peters|2010|p=240}} The phonemes usually contrast by voicing, but {{IPA|/ɣ/}} can be devoiced to a lenis {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|x|ɣ̊}} ~ {{IPAplink|ç|ʝ̊}}]}} that differs from {{IPA|/x/}} in a less energetic articulation. Verhoeven and HagemanCited in {{Harvcoltxt|Verhoeven|2005|p=244}}. have found that 70% of word-initial and 56% of intervocalic lenis fricatives (which includes {{IPA|/v/}} and {{IPA|/z/}}) are realized as fully voiceless in Belgium. In Maastrichtian Limburgish, initial {{IPA|/ɣ/}} is often partially devoiced as well.{{sfnp|Gussenhoven|Aarts|1999|p=156}}

In Ripuarian (spoken in the southeastern part of Limburg), {{IPAblink|ʝ˗|ʝ}} has been so fronted and weakened as to merge with the palatal approximant {{IPAblink|j}}; compare Standard Dutch {{lang|nl|goed}} {{IPA|/ɣut/}} with {{lang|ksh|jód}} {{IPA|/jot/}} in the Kerkrade dialect, with both words meaning 'good'. Those dialects are also an exception to the rule, as they switch over to the respective standard pronunciation when speaking Standard Dutch (in which case {{IPAblink|ʝ˗|ʝ}} is used) or, on the other side of the border (e.g. in Herzogenrath, where the Kerkrade dialect is also spoken), Standard German (in which case {{IPAblink|ɡ}} is used). The pronunciation with {{IPAblink|j}} is marked on both sides of the border. On the Dutch side of the border, the standard pronunciation of {{IPA|/ɣ/}} is only approximated after phonological back vowels {{IPA|/u, ɔ, oː, aː/}}, being uvular {{IPAblink|ʁ}} as in Ripuarian. On the German side, the standard German pronunciation {{IPAblink|ɡ}} is usual.

In many cases, {{IPAblink|j}} still patterns as an obstruent, an allophone of {{IPA|/ɣ/}} in Ripuarian. The plural form {{lang|ksh|zeëje}} {{IPA|[ˈzeəjə]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} 'saws' has an underlying {{IPA|/ɣ/}}: {{IPA|/ˈzeəɣə/}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} because it alternates with a voiceless fricative in the root {{lang|ksh|zeëg}} {{IPA|[ˈzeəç]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} 'saw', phonemically {{IPA|/ˈzeəɣ/}}.{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} Compare this with the alternation in {{lang|ksh|vroag}} {{IPA|[ˈvʁoəχ]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} 'question' - {{lang|ksh|vroage}} {{IPA|[ˈvʁoəʁə]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} 'questions' (phonemically {{IPA|/ˈvroəɣ/}},{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} {{IPA|/ˈvroəɣə/}}){{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} or with the plural-singular pair {{lang|ksh|löcher}} {{IPA|[ˈlœçəʁ]}} - {{lang|ksh|laoch}} {{IPA|[ˈlɔːχ]}},{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} which has underlying voiceless fricatives: {{IPA|/ˈlœxər/}}, {{IPA|/ˈlɔːx/}}.{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} The {{IPA|/j/}} phoneme is a sonorant and thus cannot participate in alternations like the first two. Furthermore, Ripuarian features a different pronunciation of {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} after back vowels, as uvular {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|χ}}, {{IPAplink|ʁ}}]}}, not dissimilar from the Northern Dutch pronunciation in the first case. The realization of {{IPA|/ɣ/}} as {{IPAblink|ʁ}} results in a phonetic merger with {{IPA|/r/}} and is thus an example of rhotacism. The consonants surrounding the diphthong in {{lang|ksh|vroage}} {{IPA|/ˈvroəɣə/}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} are indistinguishable from each other: {{IPA|[ˈvʁoəʁə]}}).{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} This is a typical feature of Ripuarian. This merger is also not phonemic as {{IPA|/r/}} too is a sonorant and thus cannot participate in alternations such as {{IPA|[ˈvʁoəχ]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} - {{IPA|[ˈvʁoəʁə]}}{{fix|text=tone?|date=July 2023}} mentioned above.{{sfnp|Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer|1997|pp=17, 19, 21, 126}}{{sfnp|Russ|1989|pp=228–229}}

In Northern Dutch, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} appears immediately before voiced consonants and sometimes also between vowels, but not in the word-initial position. In the latter case, the sound is not voiced and differs from {{IPA|/x/}} in length ({{IPA|/ɣ/}} is longer) and in that it is produced a little bit further front (mediovelar, rather than postvelar) and lacks any trilling, so that {{lang|nl|vlaggen}} {{IPA|/ˈvlɑɣən/}} 'flags' has a somewhat lengthened, plain voiceless velar {{IPAblink|x|xˑ}} (hereafter represented with {{angbr IPA|ɣ̊}}): {{Audio-IPA|Nl-vlaggen.ogg|[ˈvlɑ.ɣ̊ə(n)]}}, whereas {{lang|nl|lachen}} {{IPA|/ˈlɑxən/}} 'to laugh' features a shorter, post-velar fricative with a simultaneous voiceless uvular trill, transcribed with {{angbr IPA|x̠͡ʀ̥}} or {{angbr IPA|ʀ̝̊˖}} in narrow IPA but normally written with {{angbr IPA|χ}} or {{angbr IPA|x}}. In this article, {{angbr IPA|χ}} is used ({{Audio-IPA|Nl-lachen.ogg|[ˈlɑ.χə(n)]}}), even though the fricative portion is usually more front than cardinal uvulars.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1982}}{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003}}{{sfnp|Goeman|Van de Velde|2001}} In Northern Dutch, the contrast between {{IPA|/x/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}} is unstable, and {{lang|nl|vlaggen}} is more likely to feature {{IPAblink|χ}}: {{IPA|[ˈvlɑχə(n)]}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1982}}{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003}} Apart from Ripuarian, the voiceless trill fricative {{IPAblink|ʀ̝̊}} appears in very different contexts in Southern Dutch, being an allophone of {{IPA|/r/}}.{{sfnp|Tops|2009}}

The phrase {{lang|nl|zachte G}} 'soft G' is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈzɑxtə ˈʝ̠eː]}} in Southern Dutch, whereas the Northern pronunciation is {{IPA|[ˈzɑχtə ˈχei]}}. The Ripuarian-influenced Standard Dutch pronunciation is {{IPA|[ˈzɑχtə ˈʝeː]}}, that of {{lang|nl|vlaggen}} is {{IPA|[ˈvlɑʁə(n)]}} (as if spelled {{lang|nl|vlarren}}), whereas that of {{lang|nl|lachen}} is {{IPA|[ˈlɑχə(n)]}}.

The hard {{angle bracket|g}} is used in most of the Netherlands, except the provinces of Limburg and most parts of North Brabant, and some dialects of Gelderland and Utrecht. It is also used in Afrikaans, a daughter language of Dutch. It is spoken in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The soft {{angle bracket|g}} is used primarily in the southern part of the Dutch language area in Europe:

• The Netherlands
• Most parts of the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant, except for Bergen op Zoom and the area near Kerkrade and Vaals.
• Parts of the province of Gelderland namely the Bommelerwaard, Betuwe, the region south of Nijmegen, Land van Maas en Waal, the southern part of the Veluwe and the Achterhoek.
• The southeastern part of the province of Utrecht.
• Dutch-speaking Belgium except for most of West Flanders and western East Flanders.

Ripuarian dialects spoken in the extreme southeast part of Limburg in the Netherlands have a special allophony that does not match the soft G used in the rest of Limburg but the German dialects of Aachen and Cologne; see above.

Dialects of West Flanders and western East Flanders also do not align with any other dialect group in this aspect, as they feature h-dropping and use weak glottal fricatives {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɦ}}, {{IPAplink|h}}]}} for standard {{IPA|/ɣ, x/}}. This pronunciation is also used in Zeelandic dialects spoken in the Netherlands.

• Dutch phonology
• Afrikaans phonology

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book

|last=Bowerman

|first=Sean

|editor-last=Schneider

|editor-first=Edgar W.

|editor2-last=Burridge

|editor2-first=Kate

|editor3-last=Kortmann

|editor3-first=Bernd

|editor4-last=Mesthrie

|editor4-first=Rajend

|editor5-last=Upton

|editor5-first=Clive

|year=2004

|title=A handbook of varieties of English

|chapter=White South African English: phonology

|volume=1: Phonology

|publisher=Mouton de Gruyter

|pages=931–942

|isbn=978-3-11-017532-5

}}

• {{cite journal

|last1=Collins

|first1=Beverley

|last2=Mees

|first2=Inger M.

|year=1982

|title=A phonetic description of the consonant system of Standard Dutch (ABN)

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=12

|issue=1

|pages=2–12

|doi=10.1017/S0025100300002358

|jstor=44526677

|s2cid=144910869

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Collins

|first1=Beverley

|last2=Mees

|first2=Inger M.

|year=2003

|orig-year=First published 1981

|title=The Phonetics of English and Dutch

|edition=5th

|place=Leiden

|publisher=Brill Publishers

|isbn=9004103406

}}

• {{cite book

|last1=Goeman

|first1=Ton

|last2=Van de Velde

|first2=Hans

|chapter=Co-occurrence constraints on {{IPA|/r/|cat=no}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/|cat=no}} in Dutch dialects

|pages=91–112

|editor-last2=van Hout

|editor-first2=Roeland

|editor-last1=van de Velde

|editor-first1=Hans

|year=2001

|title='r-atics

|journal=Rapport d'Activités de l'Institut des Langues Vivantes et de Phonétique

|publisher=Etudes & Travaux

|place=Brussels

|issn=0777-3692

|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254818745

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Gussenhoven

|first=Carlos

|year=1999

|chapter=Dutch

|chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231848048

|title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet

|place=Cambridge

|publisher=Cambridge University Press

|pages=74–77

|isbn=0-521-65236-7

|access-date=16 February 2020

}}

• {{cite journal

|last1=Gussenhoven

|first1=Carlos

|last2=Aarts

|first2=Flor

|year=1999

|title=The dialect of Maastricht

|publisher=University of Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=29

|issue=2

|pages=155–166

|doi=10.1017/S0025100300006526

|s2cid=145782045

|url=http://gep.ruhosting.nl/carlos/gussenhoven_aarts.pdf

}}

• {{cite journal

|last1=Heijmans

|first1=Linda

|last2=Gussenhoven

|first2=Carlos

|year=1998

|title=The Dutch dialect of Weert

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=28

|issue=1–2

|pages=107–112

|doi=10.1017/S0025100300006307

|s2cid=145635698

|url=http://gep.ruhosting.nl/carlos/weert.pdf

}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Peters

|first=Jörg

|year=2010

|title=The Flemish–Brabant dialect of Orsmaal–Gussenhoven

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=40

|issue=2

|pages=239–246

|doi=10.1017/S0025100310000083

|doi-access=free

}}

• {{Cite book

|last=Russ

|first=Charles V.J.

|year=1989

|title=The dialects of Modern German: A Linguistic survey

|publisher=Routledge

|isbn=978-0-415-00308-7

}}

• {{Cite book

|author=Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|year=1997

|orig-year=1987

|title=Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|language=Dutch

|edition=2nd

|place=Kerkrade

|publisher=Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer

|isbn=90-70246-34-1

}}

• {{cite book

|last=Tops

|first=Evie

|year=2009

|title=Variatie en verandering van de {{IPA|/r/|cat=no}} in Vlaanderen

|publisher=VUBPress

|place=Brussels

|isbn=9789054874713

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NbEAbQlyC8EC

}}

• {{cite journal

|last=Verhoeven

|first=Jo

|year=2005

|title=Belgian Standard Dutch

|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/40E060F565C2A84B07993980D2957D49/S0025100305002173a.pdf/belgian_standard_dutch.pdf

|journal=Journal of the International Phonetic Association

|volume=35

|issue=2

|pages=243–247

|doi=10.1017/S0025100305002173

|s2cid=146567016

|doi-access=free

}}

{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:G in Dutch, hard and soft}}

Category:Consonants

Category:Dutch language

Category:Dutch phonology

Category:Afrikaans