Spanish soft g is [x]!

[Pafra & Scott Catledge]

Hard and soft "g" in the Spanish context "amigo" is not a meaningful
distinction for anyone.  The intervocalic 'g' is a voiced velar
fricative--unlike the "hard" 'g' which is a voiced velar stop and the "soft"
'g' which is a voiced palato-velar fricative.  The exact points and manner
of articulation will differ from country to country; sometimes even the
voicing.



----- Original Message -----
From: <RonButters at AOL.COM>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, September 24, 1999 9:12 PM
Subject: Re: Spanish soft g is [x]!


> In a message dated 9/24/1999 2:41:11 PM, prez234 at JUNO.COM writes:
>
> << As I recall, it's hard g in ga ("amiga"), gue, gui, go ("amigo") and gu
> but the rough h in
> ge and gi.
>
> If the u has a diaeresis, then gu"e and gu"i are pronounced gwe and gwi.
>>
>
> You misunderstand my question. What I was asking was not for yet another
> summary of the allophones of Spanish /g/ and their realtionship top
Spanish
> spelling--which have now been explained several times in this thread. What
I
> was asking was if the terms "hard G" and "soft G"--common nonscientific
terms
> among English speakers for the pronunciation of <G>--were also used in
> connection with Spanish--either by second-language teachers or (in
> translation) by Spanish speakers themselves.