Are there rules how 'g' is pronounced as /j/ or /g/? [duplicate]
I'm not an native English speaker, and sometimes I'm confused with the pronunciation of 'g' and 'j' in words. It seems that 'j' is usually pronounced as /dʒ/ for example "job", "jaw". But 'g' can be pronounced as /dʒ/ or /g/. For example "gorgeous" is pronounced as /'ɡɔrdʒəs/, but "georgia" is pronounced as /'dʒɔ:dʒjə/. So I have two questions:
- How could I know whether I should pronouciation as /g/ or /dʒ/ if I see a word start with letter 'g'?
- How could I know whether the word starts with a 'g' or 'j' if the pronunciation start with a /g/?
As to the letter g the general rule is g + "dark vowels (a o u) is pronounced as /g/ as in garden gold guard guess guide gust. In French words such as guard, guide the u is a mere graphic sign indicating that g is spoken /g/. This u is inserted before frontal vowels such as e or i.
g before frontal vowels e and i is spoken /ʤ/ as a rule. Gina, gin. This is true mostly for French or Latin words.
These rules of thumb have quite a number of exceptions. But only the exceptions have to be learnt, and ge/gi in Germanic words as geese, gift remains /g/.
The letter g can indeed be pronounced as IPA symbols d͡ʒ or ɡ whereas the letter j is overwhelmingly d͡ʒ (and pretty much never ɡ).
English lacks consistent spelling→pronuciation rules. It really depends on what language the word was plucked from ... and when. Words that pre-date the standardization that took place from the first dictionaries tend to be rather arbitrary since English lacked spelling conventions at the time.
Here's a nice adage on that topic:
English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary. — James Nicoll
... which is to say: Good luck, you'll need it!
The best way to learn this distinction (though I'm not happy about it) is to watch television shows and movies that are in English, ideally that use accents you'd like to learn (e.g. American shows tend to use American Broadcaster English while shows from India will have any number of regional accents that may not be intelligible to people from Ireland or Alabama).