The 'G' in Northern and Southern Dutch

In the South of Holland (in the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg), and in the Dutch-speaking North of Belgium, the pronunciation of 'G' and 'CH' is different from the North. In Dutch, the Northern is called the 'hard' G and the Southern the 'soft' G. The Northern 'G' is in the back of the mouth, the Southern more mid-mouth.

I'll say it in standard, Northern Dutch first, and then you'll have my rendering of the Southern way of speaking:
Geen groter genoegen hear MP3 (ca 60K)

Another example: (ignore the first two names)

- - Herman Dooyeweerd (1894-1977, philosopher)
- - Dodewaard (small city in central Holland)
Sjeng Schalken (tennis player; in 'Northern' and 'Southern' Dutch
hear MP3 (ca 55K)

... And Three ways to say 'CH' in German

In German, there are three ways of saying the 'CH', the first two are like the Dutch Northern and Southern G, and then the 'CH' in 'SCH' is again different:

Bach - Ich - Schiff hear MP3 (ca 30K)

Linguistics for the Layman

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Last modified: Sat Dec 29 13:40:44 PST 2001