VII. OF THE LETTER G.
The consonant G has two sounds;—the one hard, guttural, and peculiar to this letter; the other soft, like that of j. G before a, o, u, l, r, or at the end of a word, is hard; as in game, gone, gull, glory, grace, log, bog; except in gaol. G before e, i, or y, is soft; as in gem, ginger, elegy. Except—1. In get, give, gewgaw, finger, and a few other words. 2. When a syllable is added to a word ending in g: as, long, longer; fog, foggy.
G is silent before m or n in the same syllable; as in phlegm, apothegm, gnaw, design. G, when silent, usually lengthens the preceding vowel; as in resign, impregn, impugn.
Gh at the beginning of a word has the sound of g hard; as in ghastly, gherkin, Ghibelline, ghost, ghoul, ghyll: in other situations, it is generally silent; as in high, mighty, plough, bough, though, through, fight, night, bought. Gh final sometimes sounds like f; as in laugh, rough, tough; and sometimes, like g hard; as in burgh. In hough, lough, shough, it sounds like k, or ck; thus, hock, lock, shock.