Pharyngeal realizations of the gheada are the most common, but there's considerable variation. Speakers from inland villages tend to prefer uvular, pharyngeal, or glottal fricatives, which are often voiced between vowels. In contrast, speakers from coastal villages prefer velar, pharyngeal, or occasional uvular fricatives, which are always voiceless.[2]
There are three different systems of gheada. In the most widespread one, /g/ is pronounced as a voiceless fricative in any position. For example:
gato [hato] 'cat' — un gato [uŋhato] 'a cat' — o gato [ohato] 'the cat' — domingo [domiŋho] 'Sunday'
This system is found in the major cities of Galicia: Santiago, Pontevedra, and A Coruña, as well as in the eastern part of the Province of A Coruña.[3]
Another system has both [g] and voiceless fricative allophones:
gato [hato] 'cat' — un gato [uŋhato] 'a cat' — o gato [ohato] 'the cat' — domingo [domiŋgo] 'Sunday'
In this system, found in the western parts of Ourense and Lugo, northern areas of Pontevedra, and south-eastern areas of A Coruña, [g] is only found after a nasal consonant in the middle of words. Speakers often have trouble recognizing [g] and [h] as allophones of the same phoneme.[4]
A third system has merged -/ng/- into -/nk/-, eliminating the [g] allophone completely:
gato [hato] 'cat' — un gato [uŋhato] 'a cat' — o gato [ohato] 'the cat' — domingo [domiŋko] 'Sunday'
This system is found in the western parts of Galicia, in Fisterra and the Ría de Muros.[5]
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