37
Pronunciation and spelling of G and K
Textbook: pp. 71–73
GoalKnow how G and K are written at the end of words and with suffixes; distinguish voiced and unvoiced consonants.
New words
voiced consonant · jarangli undoshunvoiced consonant · jarangsiz undoshdative case · jo‘nalish kelishigipossessive suffix · egalik qo‘shimchasi
Explanation
Voiced consonants: b, v, z, g, d, j, dj, g‘, y, l, m, n, ng, r. Unvoiced: p, f, s, k, t, ch, sh, x, q, h. The consonants y, l, m, n, ng, r have no unvoiced pair. At the end of a word voiced g also sounds like unvoiced k, so one must be careful in writing: katalog (catalogue) and geolog (geologist) end in g, while kerak (necessary) and teshik (hole) end in k. When the dative case is added to a word ending in k, the suffix is said and written -ka: teshik — teshikka, kerak — kerakka. To a word ending in g, -ga is added and the word does not change: geolog — geologga, katalog — katalogga.
Worked examples
Yurak — yurakka (dative), yuragi (possessive): k turns into g before the possessive suffix.
Katalog — katalogga; pronounced «katalok», written with g.
Class activity
There are 10 cards with words ending in g or k. Add -ga/-ka and read them in pairs.
Practice
1
Which consonants have no unvoiced pair?
Y, l, m, n, ng, r.
2
Add the dative case to «teshik».
Teshikka.
3
Add the dative to «geolog» and explain the spelling.
Geologga: the stem is unchanged, suffix -ga.
4
What happens to «tilak» when the possessive -i is added?
k changes to g: tilagi.