G

G is the seventh letter in the Roman alphabet.

The letter G was created by the Romans because they felt that C was not an adequate letter to represent both /k/ AND /g/. Fascinatingly, the alleged inventor is a known historical figure, Spurius Carvilius Ruga (who flourished around 230 BC). G, which at this time took the place of the letter Z, came to represent the sound /g/. As the sound /k/ did, /g/ also developed palatal and velar allophones which is the reason why today, G has different sound values in all Romance languages and English (due to French influence).

In English, the letter can be pronounced as a "soft G" (SAMPA: [dZ]), as in: giant, ginger, geology, or it can be pronounced as a "hard G" (SAMPA: [g]), as in: goose, gargoyle, game.

Golf represents the letter G in the NATO phonetic alphabet.

G is also:

• A musical note
• As G, giga, an SI prefix meaning 10⁹ = 1,000,000,000 (one billion) or a binary prefix used in computing to mean 2³⁰ = 1,073,741,824.
• As G, a symbol for the gravitational constant
• As g, a unit for acceleration, see gee force.
• As g, an SI unit for mass, see Gram (unit).
• The stock symbol for The Gillette Company
• A British film, G, made in 1974
• The variable G for conductance
• Short for the slang word "gangsta" or gangster

See also:

• "Ĝ" and "ĝ"
• "Ğ" and "ğ"

Two-letter combinations starting with G:

• ga gb gc gd ge gf gg gh gi gj gk gl gm gn go gp gq gr gs gt gu gv gw gx gy gz

Words beginning with the letter G, suitable for teaching children the alphabet

Referenced By