gh /vs./ g

[xiaoen]

Hi,
What's the pronunciation difference between letters [g] and [gh]?

I think they both have the same pronunciation. But not sure.

 

[Tdol]

Not necessarily. Gh can have be silent or sound like the letter f. G has a hard sound - go - a soft sound - giraffe - and can combine with letter like n to make the ng sound. They do sometimes have the same sound in words like ghost, but other than that they are not the same.

 

[Tarheel]

thorough - furrow

 

[Tdol]

And Loughborough features two different pronunciations of gh in a single word.

 

[GoesStation]

thorough - furrow

Not in BrE. The second syllable of 'thorough' is an unstressed schwa.

It doesn't always work for my AmE pronunciation either. I usually pronounce the first syllable of thorough like "Thor".

 

[Tdol]

It doesn't always work for my AmE pronunciation either. I usually pronounce the first syllable of thorough like "Thor".

Is this common? I hadn't noticed it.

 

[Tarheel]

I guess not everybody pronounces it the same way, but to my ears "thorough" has always rhymed with "furrow".

 

[GoesStation]

I'm re-thinking my previous post. I also generally pronounce it to rhyme with furrow.