26: Why do C and G come in hard and soft versions? Palatalization
b'A letter stands for a sound. Or at least, it\\u2019s supposed to. Most of the time. Unless it\\u2019s C or G, which each stand for two different sounds in a whole bunch of languages. C can be soft, as in circus or acacia, or hard, as in the other C in circus or acacia. G can be hard, as in gif, or soft, as in gif. \\n\\nWhy can C and G be hard or soft? And why don\\u2019t other letters come in hard and soft versions? \\n\\nIn this episode of the podcast that\\u2019s enthusiastic about linguistics, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about the group of sounds that are pronounced with the back part of the roof of your mouth, aka the palate. When one sound in a word is produced at the palate, it tends to pull neighbouring sounds towards the palate as well, and this palatal attraction explains so many weird mismatches of sound and spelling. Why can C and G be hard and soft? Why do T and D sometimes get different pronunciations as well, as in nation and didja? Why are Irish and Scottish Gaelic names spelled that way? Why is it so hard to spell the clipped forms of \\u201cusual\\u201d and \\u201ccasual\\u201d? How are cheese and cacio e pepe and queso and K\\xe4se all related? \\n\\nThis month\\u2019s bonus episode was about how to have fun at (or just survive) academic conferences. Whether you\\u2019re new to academic conferences, or have never been to one and want to know how they\\u2019re different from other large gatherings like conventions, this episode has all the info! Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to this and 20 previous bonus episodes: https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm\\n\\nThis is also our anniversary episode! Whether you\\u2019ve been with us for the whole two years or you\\u2019ve joined us more recently, we\\u2019re glad you\\u2019re here. Thank you to everyone who has helped bring the show to more language fans in honour of our anniversary. There\\u2019s still a bit of time to get your name on the special thank you post and help more people get a fun language thing in their ears by recommending Lingthusiasm on social media before the end of the month. \\n\\nFor links to everything mentioned in this episode visit https://lingthusiasm.com/post/180153994181/lingthusiasm-episode-26-why-do-c-and-g-come-in'