Freeman & Freeman Applications p. 129, # 9

Investigating the Letter G sounds when at the beginning of a word.

These words have a "Hard G" /g/ sound:

gab

gap

gauge

guard

gain

gold

got

gulf

gull

"Soft G" /j/ sound (before e,i,y):

gem

gerbil

geography

giant

ginger

geometry

giraffe

gypsy

gym

Generally the letter G at the beginning of a word uses the /g/ sound (Hard G), except if the vowel following it is e, i, y. This holds for words of Romance origin, but words of non-Romance language origins may be exeptions (see list below).

girl - Germanic origin

geyser - Old Norse

get - Old Norse and Germanic

give - Old Swedish

gecko - Malay

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/phonetic/hard_g.shtml

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/phonetic/soft_g.shtml

http://www.merriam-webster.com/