The New Student's Reference Work/G

G (jē), the seventh letter, is a vocal consonant. It represents two sounds: one simple, as in gave, the other compound, like that of j, as in gin. The first is a guttural, its place being the soft palate and the back of the tongue. The simple sound is called hard g, the compound one soft g. Hard g occurs before a, l, o, r, s or u in the same syllable; at the end of a word; sometimes even before e, I or y. Examples: gay, glad, go, grow, bags and gun; berg; and get, gig and muggy. Soft g usually occurs before e, i or y and in gaol. Examples: gem, engine and stingy. G is silent before final m or n, as in phlegm and sign. So is initial g before n, as in gnostic. In some words, from the French, g equals z, as rouge, G's name and shape, a modified C, come from Latin, probably through French.