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G-dropping'
in English is a linguistic variable by which what in standard English is is realized as , or in unstressed morpheme-final (often word-final) syllables. In most varieties of English, G''-dropping does not involve actually omitting a sound; there is no sound present in the standard pronunciation to be dropped. The name "G-dropping" is a reference to the way this process is represented in spelling: Since in English is typically spelled and is spelled , the process of replacing with causes the to "drop" from the spelling.
Sociolinguists often refer to this variable by the notation
(ing).
G-dropping is most frequently observed in present participles, whose
-ing suffix meets the criteria for the variation. For example, with
G-dropping, the word
singing may be pronounced as , or , and spelled as
singin' to emphasize that the g has been "dropped".
G-dropping also occurs, although at lower rates of frequency than in present participles, in other words ending in the syllable
-ing, including nouns such as
ceiling and
morning. According to phonetician
John C. Wells, "it is safe... to make the generalization" that
G-dropping exists in all communities where there is an English-speaking working class, the only exception being in
South Africa, where the working class does not have English as a first language.
G-dropping is used frequently in
pop culture such as music and movies.
History G-dropping is a linguistic phenomenon that has been studied by
sociolinguists since the 1950s. The origin of
G-dropping has been studied by
historical linguists since the late 19th century. The contemporary variation between and has its roots in the morphology of
Old English. Old English possessed suffixes and , which created
verbal nouns, alongside a suffix that created present participles. By the 15th century, the forms had begun to be replaced by the forms, creating an alternation between velar and alveolar suffixes for the same functions that is at the root of the modern alternation between and . As Middle English transformed into
Modern English,
G-dropping became highly correlated with
socioeconomic class. It is more common among the lower
working class, but is sometimes found in the casual speech of other classes. In some research,
G-dropping has been seen to be more common among males than females. It was a fashionable pronunciation in 18th-century England. The stereotypical U-RP pronunciation of ''huntin', shootin' and fishin'
features G''-dropping in all three words: .
Linguistic phenomenon When "dropping a g", the speaker turns the sequence to , as in
taking . In dialects with the
weak vowel merger, such as most varieties of North American English and Australian English, the resulting sequence is , so that
taking with a dropped
g is pronounced the same as
taken, as . The realization (with a lowered
close central unrounded vowel) appears in both types of dialects. In dialects without the merger (such as U-RP), the words are distinct as vs. , with only the latter word being subject to
syllabic consonant formation. However, in some dialects, the variant exists despite the lack of the weak vowel merger. An example of such dialect is
Cockney, in which
wireless has been reported to be pronounced even in broadest speech. In that dialect,
taking can be pronounced (more often that not with a sounded schwa, so not etc.) instead of , though both are possible. The pronunciation with etc. is perceived as strongly non-standard by speakers of RP, in which the most casual variants are and . The latter is usually not homophonous with
taken as the final vowels in these words differ in height (though can be as close as in the vicinity of alveolars) as well as in the fact that does not participate in syllabic consonant formation, being phonemically . However, is also realized as when the raising of to before the underlying (found in various dialects of
North American English) is applied even after the "g" is dropped, leading to a variant pronunciation by speakers from not just
California but also from other
Western states, Midwestern areas including the
Upper Midwest and even Canada. Speakers who use the variant use it only for the underlying , which makes
taking with a dropped "g" no longer homophonous with
taken. A reverse phenomenon has been reported to occur in
New Zealand English, in which even the stressed instances of the vowel are central (with the height being somewhat variable) that is not distinct from the schwa phoneme (hence the stereotypical NZE pronunciation of "fish and chips" as , sounding like "fush and chups" to Australians). However, the typical allophone before any phonetic velar nasal (stressed or otherwise) is , as in other dialects. When the G is dropped, the behavior mirrors the General American pattern ( etc.) Monosyllabic words that have a stressed "-ing" ending like
sing or
king are not affected by
G-dropping. When writing, an apostrophe can be used in place of the to indicate it has been dropped. There are some syntactic restraints on
G-dropping as well. Most commonly, the feature will be found mostly with progressives and particles, and not as commonly in adjectives. Many in North America associate this linguistic feature with lower class societies. As previously said,
G-dropping is more prevalent in some southern areas of the United States; and we can see a clear example in Appalachian English. A foundational study by Wolfram and Christian's Appalachian Speech which analyzed counties in West Virginia found that the dropping of "g" was clearly more predominant than in other parts of the country. There are several linguistic aspects to be studied, and
G-dropping happens to be amongst them when in songs, words like "something" or "thumping" are pronounced as and . == Changes affecting the
-thing suffix ==