G

which is the seventh letter, and the fifth consonant letter, of the English alphabet, has two sounds: one simple, as in gave, go, gull; the other compound, like that of j, being nearly equivalent to dzh, as in gem, gin, gyve, dingy. The former is commonly called the hard sound of g, and is that which this letter has before a, o, u, l, and r, and also when final; the latter is commonly called the soft sound of g, and usually occurs before the vowels e, i, and y, though in some words it has its hard sound before these vowels. In this vocabulary, the hard sound, when occurring before e, i, or y, is distinguished by G, g, and the soft by G, g. See Principles of Pronunciation, §§ 72–75. As to its form, G is merely a slight modification of C, which, in the Roman alphabet, originally represented the sound of G. See the letter C, p. 181. The Anglo-Saxon g has in many words been softened or liquefied into y or ow; as, A-S. dæg, gear, Eng. day, year; A-S. bugan, Eng. to bow. In some words originally beginning with u or w, g has been prefixed in the form which comes to us through the French, as in guard, from ward, guise, from wise, &c.—(Mus.) G is the name of the fifth tone of the natural or model scale;—called also sol by the Italians and French. It was also originally used as the treble clef, and has gradually changed into the character represented in the margin. See CLEF. G♯ (G sharp) is a tone intermediate between G and A.