soft g
Jiffy sound, spelled
The soft g is the /j/ sound that g makes before e, i, or y in many English words: gem, giant, gym.
This contrasts with the hard g heard in gate or goat.
English inherited the pattern from French, though exceptions abound: get, give, girl all use hard g despite the following vowel.
Tallest land animal
- gemPolished precious stone
- gymExercise facility
- germDisease-causing microorganism
- giantBeing of huge size
ginger · general · gentle · genius · geometry · geography · geology · gesture
Concerning mouth's roof
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- affricateConsonant blending closure and friction
- voicedExpressed in speech
- alveolarOf tooth sockets
articulation · pronunciation · phoneme · grapheme · digraph · allophone · consonant · sibilant
Deviation from standard
- spellingCorrect letter sequence
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
- Latin originFrom the Roman tongue
- Greek originDerived from ancient Hellas
giraffe
Tallest land animal
giant · ginger · general · gentle · genius · geometry · geography · geology · gesture · generate
palatal
Concerning mouth's roof
- fricativeConsonant with audible friction
- affricateConsonant blending closure and friction
- voicedExpressed in speech
alveolar · articulation · pronunciation · phoneme · grapheme · digraph · allophone · consonant · sibilant · vocalization
exception
Deviation from standard
- spellingCorrect letter sequence
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
- Latin originFrom the Roman tongue
- phonicsalphabet, decoding, digraphs, blends, phonics
- Brabantian dialect
- speechspeech, speaking, talk, diction, conversation
- phoneticsphonemes, phoneme, vocal folds, consonants, vowels
- soft drinksCarbonated nonalcoholic beverages
- soft spotEmotional vulnerability or fondness
- soft targetUndefended vulnerable site
- soft serveAerated frozen dairy dessert
- soft fruitEasily bruised produce
- soften the blowReduce harshness of bad news
soft, soften, softly, softness, softer, softest, softening, softened