Editing G (section)

===Typographic variants===
[[File:LowercaseG.svg|left|thumb|[[Allograph|Typographic variants]] include a double-storey and a single-storey '''g'''.|alt=Image shows the two forms of the letter g]]
The modern [[lowercase]] {{char|g}} has two typographic variants: the single-storey (sometimes "opentail") [[File:Opentail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px|alt=a letter g shaped like a circle with a dangling hook]] and the double-storey (sometimes "looptail") [[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px|alt=a letter g shaped like spectacles]]. The single-storey form derives from the majuscule (uppercase) form by raising the [[serif]] that distinguishes it from 'c' to the top of the loop (thus closing the loop), and extending the vertical stroke downward and to the left. The double-storey form {{nowrap|([[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]])}} had developed similarly, except that some ornate forms then extended the tail back to the right, and to the left again, forming a closed [[Bowl (typography)|bowl]] or loop. In the double-storey version, a small top stroke in the upper-right, often terminating in an orb shape, is called an "ear". The loop-tail form is the original one, as seen in 9th century [[Carolingian script]]; evolving over centuries of [[Scriptorium|monastic copying]], the open-tail variant came to predominate and it was this that [[Johannes Gutenberg|Gutenberg]] adopted when creating the first [[Blackletter]] typefaces{{snd}} until that in turn was replaced by [[Humanist minuscule]], which reasserted the closed-tail form.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] | first=Sarah |last=Zhang |title=The 'g' in Google's Old Logo Is Really Weird: a tale of two "g"s |date=April 9, 2018 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/lowercase-g/557504/ }}</ref>

Generally, the two forms are complementary and interchangeable; the form displayed is a [[typeface]] selection choice. In [[Unicode]], the two appearances are generally treated as glyph variants with no [[wikt:semantic|semantic]] difference. Most [[serif]] typefaces use the looptail form (for example, <span style=font-family:"Times New Roman", Times, serif>{{char|g}}</span>) and most [[sans-serif]] typefaces use the opentail form (for example, <span style=font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif>{{char|g}}</span>) but the [[code point]] in both cases is U+0067. For applications where the single-storey variant must be distinguished (such as strict [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] in a typeface where the usual g character is double-storey), the character {{Unichar|0261|Latin small letter script g}} is available, as well as an upper case version, {{Unichar|A7AC|Latin capital letter script G}}. 

Occasionally the difference has been exploited to provide contrast. In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], opentail {{angbr|[[File:Opentail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]]}} has always represented a [[voiced velar plosive]], while looptail {{angbr|[[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]]}} represented a [[voiced velar fricative]] from 1895 to 1900.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Association phonétique internationale|date=January 1895|title=vɔt syr l alfabɛ|trans-title=Votes sur l'alphabet|journal=Le Maître Phonétique|volume=10|issue=1|pages=16–17|jstor=44707535}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Association phonétique internationale|date=February–March 1900|title=akt ɔfisjɛl|trans-title=Acte officiel|journal=Le Maître Phonétique|volume=15|issue=2/3|page=20|jstor=44701257}}</ref> In 1948, the Council of the [[International Phonetic Association]] recognized {{angbr IPA|ɡ}} and {{angbr|[[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]]}} as typographic equivalents,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jones|first=Daniel|date=July–December 1948|title=desizjɔ̃ ofisjɛl|trans-title=Décisions officielles|journal=Le Maître Phonétique|volume=26 (63)|issue=90|pages=28–30|jstor=44705217}}</ref> and this decision was reaffirmed in 1993.<ref>{{cite journal|author=International Phonetic Association|year=1993|title=Council actions on revisions of the IPA|journal=[[Journal of the International Phonetic Association]]|volume=23|issue=1|pages=32–34|doi=10.1017/S002510030000476X|s2cid=249420050 }}</ref> While the 1949 ''Principles of the International Phonetic Association'' recommended the use of {{angbr|[[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]]}} for a velar plosive and {{angbr IPA|ɡ}} for an advanced one for languages where it is preferable to distinguish the two, such as Russian,<ref>{{cite book|author=International Phonetic Association|year=1949|title=The Principles of the International Phonetic Association|publisher=Department of Phonetics, [[University College, London]]|jstor=i40200179|at=Supplement to ''Le Maître Phonétique'' 91, January–June 1949}}
* Reprinted in ''Journal of the International Phonetic Association'' 40 (3), December 2010, pp.&nbsp;299–358, {{doi|10.1017/S0025100311000089}}.</ref> this practice never caught on.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wells|first=John C.|date=6 November 2006|url=https://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0611a.htm|title=Scenes from IPA history|work=John Wells's phonetic blog|publisher=Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, University College London|access-date=29 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613022900/http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog0611a.htm|archive-date=13 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The 1999 ''Handbook of the International Phonetic Association'', the successor to the ''Principles'', abandoned the recommendation and acknowledged both shapes as acceptable variants.<ref>{{cite book|author=International Phonetic Association|year=1999|title=Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet|location=Cambridge|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-63751-1|page=19}}</ref>

In 2018, a study found that native English speakers have little conscious awareness of the looptail form {{nowrap|([[File:Looptail g.svg|class=skin-invert-image|8px]]).}} The authors write: "Despite being questioned repeatedly, and despite being informed directly that G has two lowercase print forms, nearly half of the participants failed to reveal any knowledge of the looptail 'g', and only 1 of the 38 participants was able to write looptail 'g' correctly".<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wong|first1=Kimberly|last2=Wadee|first2=Frempongma|last3=Ellenblum|first3=Gali|last4=McCloskey|first4=Michael|title=The Devil's in the g-tails: Deficient letter-shape knowledge and awareness despite massive visual experience.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance|volume=44|issue=9|pages=1324–1335|date=2 April 2018|doi=10.1037/xhp0000532|pmid=29608074|s2cid=4571477}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Dean|first1=Signe|title=Most People Don't Know What Lowercase 'G' Looks Like And We're Not Even Kidding|date=4 April 2018|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/lowercase-g-two-print-forms-looptail-opentail-writing-reading-comprehension|website=Science Alert|access-date=7 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073304/https://www.sciencealert.com/lowercase-g-two-print-forms-looptail-opentail-writing-reading-comprehension|archive-date=8 April 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

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