Anonymous wrote:I've decided to speak in a bad Russian accent for the remainder of today.

We're goink swimmink now.

Fabulous!

Anonymous wrote:Is it like the way Forrest Gump pronounces 'running'?

Ha! I couldn't figure out what the OP was getting at, since the more common annoyance (I think) is dropping the g entirely. Thanks for this example, PP!

Anonymous wrote:I'm also Canadian, and the "g" is pronounced by not hard; it is a soft end sound. Certainly it is heard, so I don't clip it, such as in "goin'' or "movin'", etc.

I meant, "but" not hard

I'm also Canadian, and the "g" is pronounced by not hard; it is a soft end sound. Certainly it is heard, so I don't clip it, such as in "goin'' or "movin'", etc.

Anonymous wrote:In the UK, we pronounce the "g" at the end of words, as well as the "t" in twenty, etc.

Dropping the "g" entirely definitely comes off as uneducated. Having a softer or harder "g" sound is perfectly fine.

I don't think you understood the question. There's a sound that's represented by "ng", a hard "g" as in "go" and a soft "g" as in "George". In some American regional accents, the "ng" sound is sometimes followed by the hard "g" as in "go". The classic example is "Lawn Guyland" for "Long Island", appropriately enough because people from Long Island often use that regional accent. "Dropping the 'g'" describes a pronunciation like President Clinton's; it's common in the South, but turns up elsewhere as well. The soft "g" after "ng" would be something like "hinge".

A marked regional accent is sometimes a disadvantage, even in America.

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating. Two years ago we paid $1,000+ out of pocket to a speech pathologist who worked with DS on articulation deficiencies.

Guess what one of the sound combos was? Uh huh, the ending /g/ in /-ing/ words. Because that's proper standard English.

For the person talkinG about hicks .... it's actually 'hick' to drop the /g/ in /-ing/ .... I'm a fixin' to git goin' in the mornin' . See?

Yes! Yes! This drives me crazy. Nobody uses -ing anymore. Everyone is always goin' or doin' something. I correct my DH and my kids and myself all the time. Even the President drops the -ing for -in.

In the UK, we pronounce the "g" at the end of words, as well as the "t" in twenty, etc.

Dropping the "g" entirely definitely comes off as uneducated. Having a softer or harder "g" sound is perfectly fine.

I've decided to speak in a bad Russian accent for the remainder of today.

We're goink swimmink now.

Is this person from Lawn Guyland?

You know....there is a difference between a "hick" and someone who simply has a southern accent. I would rather listen to the soft sound of a southern accent all day long then have to listen to five minutes of that horrid Yankee accent.

So very, very true.

It's not something to fight about or get all angsty about. I logged on out of curiosity as some of my friends hit a soft but true "g" at the end of words ending with "ng". They are still my friends and I love them, but as a speech therapist, I can tell you that it's not Standard American English dialect. I mean, who cares really, but some people are nearly curious.

OP here:

He's an English-speaking person for the United States and not the south and has no other discernible accent.

He makes going a three syllable word like this:
go-ing-guh

the reason this is bothering me is he was recently promoted to a more visible communications role and to me it sounds ignorant and he's not.

After watch the U-Tube video, I wonder if it's something done when he's trying to add extra emphasis...

Thanks y'all for a fun discussion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's an accent. I'm from Indiana and drop the 'g' about half the time. When speaking in front of a crowd or at a meeting, I tend to tone down my twang and include the 'g' but in everyday situations and conversations, I talk 'normal'. I don't care if you like it or not.

According to some of these posters you sound like a "hick." Did you know that?!

I don't care. One thing I learned a long time ago was that people who aren't interested in substance really don't matter. I have good manners, I speak well and am well rounded. I also have an accent. As a matter of fact, my accent isn't as strong as it used to be and was never as strong as some of my friends and family. They're great people and I would never think less of them because of their accent.

20:46 here. I agree completely!

*too

There's the /ng/ sound at the end of a word such as ring and song.

r--i--ng s--i--ng

It's the same sound as in the word "think"


th--i--ng--k

There is no need for a hard /g/ as in /good/ sound there.

Have your friend watch this tutorial to learn how to make the correct /ng/sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ8yUytZSt0