ガ行 – How should you pronounce ‘g’ in Japanese
When you learn Japanese many textbooks will tell you that you can pronounce all ガ行 sounds or が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご like “ga, gi, gu, ge, go” or “ŋa, ŋi, ŋu, ŋe, ŋo”. “ŋ” is the sound of “ng” in words such as “going”. ‘ŋ’ is considered the more proper pronunciation for announcers and in other situations. So, How should you pronounce ‘g’ in Japanese?
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The Standard Pronunciation of the Japanese ‘g’
‘g’ is at the beginning of words pronounced just like it is normally pronounced in English words as “go” and “get”. When ‘g’ comes in the middle of a word it can be pronounced like ‘g’ or ‘ŋ’. For ガ行 sounds in the middle of the word people in eastern Japan are more likely than people in the west to pronounce it as ‘ŋ’.
How Different Regions pronounce ‘g’
Excluding people in the Kanto region which standard Japanese is based on, ‘g’ may be pronounced differently. First east from Kanto into the Tohoku region, ‘g’ can be pronounced more like ‘ŋg’. This sounds like a slightly nasalized ‘g’ sound. Now west from the Kanto region to the Kansai region where Osaka is located. Most of this area pronounce ‘g’ similar to the Tohoku region. Finally, from Hiroshima and Okayama to Kyushu, ‘g’ is the same as the English ‘g’ at the beginning and middle of words.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/Rapid Speech may change the Pronunciation
The pronunciation may change though when you are talking quickly. ‘g’ in the middle of a word may be pronounced as a fricative sound. A fricative is a sound including the ‘s’ in ‘snake’, ‘f’ in ‘farm’, ‘z’ in ‘zebra’. This sound is written ‘ɣ’ and is pronounced like other fricatives but in the same position as ‘g’.
Changing Sounds for Changing Times
There still are individual differences in how to pronounce ‘g’ but there is a tendency to move toward a single pronunciation. The ‘ŋ’ in the middle of words is being pronounced like ‘g’ by more people especially younger speakers. So now all over Japan as the pronunciation becomes closer, someday maybe there will be only one way to pronounce ‘g’. Only time can tell.
If you are interested in improving your Japanese pronunciation check out some other articles here.
Or if you want to learn more about Japanese grammar I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.
I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.
References
International Phonetic Association
Regional Differentiation of Linguistic Variation
