Г

Г г гы – Pronounced like the “g” sound in the word “god”.

• гыны́ "gunpowder",
• чъыгы́ "tree".

Гу

Гу гу гу – Has no equivalent in English. It is a velar labial spirant which pronunciation is close to the “goo” combination of the word “good”, but shorter. The sound also has small aspiration.

• гу "heart",
• гущы́1 "word".

Гъ

Гъ гъ гъы – Has no equivalent in English. It can be described as a “hard” version of the “г” sound, because it has deeper guttural pronunciation. To produce the sound the soft palate goes up, the tongue moves back while its back side goes up. This makes a small crack, through which the air passes vibrating the velum.

• гъатхэ́ "spring",
• гъэма́ф "summer".

Гъу

Гъу гъу гъуы - Has no equivalent in English. It is close to the Circassian “гъ” sound with some labialization. From the vibrating “гъ” it is different by its additional articulation of the lips, which stretch forward and become rounded. This strengthens the low-frequency components of the sound and turns it into a labial one.

• гъунэ́гъу "neighbor",
• гъунджэ́ "mirror".