How to Pronounce the Dutch 'g'

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Like the Japanese 'r' the Dutch 'g' is a very hard sound to make for people not speaking Dutch.

1

Listen to the sound.

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  1. Since the Dutch ‘g’ is difficult for non-native speakers, hearing the sound spoken aloud can sometimes help. Look up videos online if you don’t know anyone who speaks Dutch in person.
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2

Get the air moving.

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  1. This means that the air is moving past a partly constricted opening in your mouth. Other examples of fricatives in English are “f” as in “fee,” “s” as in “hiss,” and “th” as in “thistle.”
3

Don’t let your vocal cords vibrate.

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  1. For an example of voiced versus voiceless sounds, pronounce the word "zap" in English. The 'z' is voiced. Then pronounce the word "sap". The "s" is unvoiced. All the fricatives mentioned in the previous step are voiceless, too.
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4

Make the sound.

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  1. This should be at the point where the uvula hangs down. The sound is similar to the ‘ch’ in ‘loch,’ but to the Dutch, that still sounds too much like a ‘k’ and in ‘cat,’ because it is made against the “velum” rather than the uvula. The Dutch sound is also found in German (e.g. in "Dach" = "roof").
    • To pronounce the 'g' like a native Dutch speaker, try to make a sound as if you were gargling. It may sound kind of gross, but that is generally how it's pronounced.
    • Try saying the word ‘gek’ which means ‘crazy.’ The ‘-ek’ part is pronounced exactly the same as the ‘-eck’ part in ‘check,’ so you would get a short gurgling sound followed by ‘eck.’ Or, if you think the ‘ch’ in ‘loch’ works better for you, it would be ‘ch-eck.’
5

Practice.

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  1. This is not a usual phoneme in English, so practice using it. You'll get used to it after a while, and be able to produce it easily.
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  • Question
    How would I pronounce the Dutch name Wikje?
    Community Answer
    Wik like sick, j like y as in yogurt, e like uh or ah.
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  • Question
    Why do the spelling and pronunciation of colors change, depending on what is being referenced? For example, a car or a horse?
    Community Answer
    Dutch has 2 articles for "the", namely "de" and "het". When the article for a word is "de", all adjectives get an "e" added and changed accordingly (geel - gele, dom - domme, etc.). When the article is "het", the adjective is normal when you use "een" (a), "één" (1) or "geen" (not a). Het bruine paard / een bruin paard / 1 bruin paard / geen bruin paard (the brown horse / a brown horse / 1 brown horse / no brown horse). Note: There's a lot of exceptions; for example, when pointing at something related to a function, you might keep the normal adjective - een belangrijke man (an important man), een belangrijk man (same).
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  • Question
    Would I pronounce the S in the name Sjoerd?
    Community Answer
    The name Sjoerd is pronounced: sj = sh like shoe, oe = oo like book, rd = rd like bird (but in some Dutch dialects the r is 'rolled').
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      Tips

      • The sound comes from the very back of the roof of the mouth.
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      • In the southern parts of the Netherlands and in northern Belgium they speak with a so-called 'soft g', which sounds more like the letter "h" as used in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, or the "ch" sound in German "ich".
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      • Try not to get drawn into a discussion about which of the two ways of pronouncing the 'g' (the hard or the soft one) is the proper one. (Even while the soft one is more widely used (also in Germany, written as ch), the speakers of the hard 'g' will claim theirs is the proper one...)
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      References

      1. [1] Kohler, K, "German", in "Handbook of the International Phonetic Association", Cambridge UK, 1999, pp.86-89.
      2. Hear the word 'goedemorgen' (meaning good morning) pronounced by a native speaker of Dutch.
      3. Listen to the word 'gek' .
      4. Hear a voiceless uvular fricative by itself.

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