Pronunciation of English ⟨ng⟩

In English, the digraph $⟨ng⟩$ often represents the velar nasal, as in long and nothing. In other cases, it represents a sequence of the velar nasal followed by the voiced velar stop, as in longer, which had been the original pronunciation of the digraph up until Early Modern English when the sound was lost in most words, giving  a phonemic status in English. Another pronunciation is, as in angel and one pronunciation of longevity  (alternatively pronounced with , , by analogy with long).

NG-coalescence
In Old English and Middle English, any ng sequence stood for two sounds: the velar nasal followed by the voiced velar stop. The velar nasal did not have a phonemic status, being a mere allophone of, as in Spanish or Italian (or as in Modern Standard English in words such as Bengali or Vancouver, where there is a free variation between an alveolar nasal and a velar nasal). From Early Modern English onwards, the oral stop ceased to be pronounced in educated London speech, giving  a phonemic status according to some analyses (some scholars still reject it as a phoneme and consider it to be a realization of the underlying ). This is termed NG coalescence by John C. Wells. There are certain varieties of English where the ng-coalescence did not take place, such as those spoken in the western part of the English Midlands and the middle north of England, such as Brummie, Mancunian and Scouse. Since the underlying form in those dialects is (i.e. the speakers perceive  and  to be the same sound), the g is literally dropped for those speakers who use  etc. for -ing.

G-dropping
G-dropping in English is a linguistic variable by which what in standard English is is realized as,  or  in unstressed morpheme-final (often word-final) syllables. In most varieties of English, G-dropping does not involve actually omitting a sound; there is no  sound present in the standard pronunciation to be dropped. The name "G-dropping" is a reference to the way this process is represented in spelling: Since in English is typically spelled $⟨ng⟩$ and  is spelled $⟨n⟩$, the process of replacing  with  causes the $⟨g⟩$ to "drop" from the spelling. Sociolinguists often refer to this variable by the notation (ing).

G-dropping is most frequently observed in present participles, whose -ing suffix meets the criteria for the variation. For example, with G-dropping, the word singing may be pronounced as, or , and spelled as singin' to emphasize that the g has been "dropped". According to phonetician John C. Wells, "it is safe... to make the generalization" that G-dropping exists in all communities where there is an English-speaking working class, the only exception being in South Africa, where the working class does not have English as a first language. G-dropping can be popularly seen in pop culture, music, movies, many Southern states in the United States, as well as African American English.

History
G-dropping is a linguistic phenomenon that has been studied by sociolinguists since the 1950s. The origin of G-dropping has been studied by historical linguists since the late 19th century. The contemporary variation between and  has its roots in the morphology of Old English. Old English possessed suffixes -ung and -ing, which created verbal nouns, alongside a suffix -inde that created present participles. By the 15th century, the $⟨nd⟩$ forms had begun to be replaced by the $⟨ng⟩$ forms, creating an alternation between velar and alveolar suffixes for the same functions that is at the root of the modern alternation between and. As Middle English transformed into Modern English, G-dropping became highly correlated with socioeconomic class. It is more common among the lower working class, but is sometimes found in the casual speech of other classes. G-dropping has been seen to be more common among males than females. It was a fashionable pronunciation in 18th-century England. The stereotypical U-RP pronunciation of huntin', shootin' and fishin' features G-dropping in all three words:.

Linguistic phenomenon
When "dropping a g", the speaker turns the sequence to, as in taking. In dialects with the weak vowel merger, such as most varieties of North American English and Australian English, the resulting sequence is, so that taking with a dropped g is pronounced the same as taken, as. The realization (with a lowered close central unrounded vowel) appears in both types of dialects. In dialects without the merger (such as U-RP), the words are distinct as vs., with only the latter word being subject to syllabic consonant formation. However, in some dialects, the variant exists despite the lack of the weak vowel merger. An example of such dialect is Cockney, in which wireless has been reported to be pronounced even in broadest speech. In that dialect, taking can be pronounced (more often that not with a sounded schwa, so not  etc.) instead of, though both are possible. The pronunciation with etc. is perceived as strongly non-standard by speakers of RP, in which the most casual variants are  and. The latter is usually not homophonous with taken as the final vowels in these words differ in height (though  can be as close as  in the vicinity of alveolars) as well as in the fact that  does not participate in syllabic consonant formation, being phonemically.

However, is also realized as  when the raising of  to  before the underlying  (found in various dialects of North American English) is applied even after the "g" is dropped, leading to a variant pronunciation  by speakers from not just California but also from other Western states, Midwestern areas including the Upper Midwest  and even Canada. Speakers who use the variant use it only for the underlying, which makes taking with a dropped "g" no longer homophonous with taken. A reverse phenomenon has been reported to occur in New Zealand English, in which even the stressed instances of the vowel are central  (with the height being somewhat variable) that is not distinct from the schwa phoneme  (hence the stereotypical NZE pronunciation of "fish and chips" as, sounding like "fush and chups" to Australians). However, the typical allophone before any phonetic velar nasal (stressed or otherwise) is, as in other dialects. When the G is dropped, the behavior mirrors the General American pattern ( etc.)

Monosyllabic words that have a stressed "-ing" ending like sing or king are not affected by G-dropping. When writing, an apostrophe can be used in place of the $⟨g⟩$ to indicate it has been dropped.

There are some syntactic restraints on g-dropping as well. Most commonly, the feature will be found mostly with progressives and particles, and not as commonly in adjectives.

Demographics
A study from the 1950s previously mentioned showed that southern areas of the US are more likely to use "g-dropping", with young men being the higher demographic. Many in North America associate this linguistic feature with lower class societies. This has been reinforced by pop culture references where the less educated characters were more likely to be seen dropping the "g", for example in Uncle Tom's Cabin.

As previously said, G-dropping is more prevalent in some southern areas of the United States; and we can see a clear example in Appalachian English. A foundational study by Wolfram and Christian's Appalachian Speech which analyzed counties in West Virginia found that the dropping of "g" was clearly more predominant than in other parts of the country.

This linguistic feature can also be seen in African-American English. A study showed that African-American English speakers drop the "G" 54% of the time, and the proportion is even higher for those in the working class.

Music
Although G-dropping has been heavily stigmatized in some dialects, it is not perceived as abnormal when sung and occurs commonly in popular music. Both the sound change and spelling are used for example Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind employs $⟨n'⟩$ to explicitly indicate g-dropping.

In African American Vernacular English, the phonological action of g-dropping is seen as commonplace in the language, so much so that this trait bleeds into other facets of the culture such as music. Arguably, the genre of hip-hop has been most influential on young African American urban communities. There are several linguistic aspects to be studied, and "g-dropping" happens to be amongst them when in songs, words like "something" or "thumping" are pronounced as and.

Movies
G-dropping can be heard in various types of Canadian media, especially their movies. G-dropping can be heard in the 1970 Canadian movie Goin' Down the Road. The film follows two boys who travel from an impoverished, rural area to Toronto in search of fame. The G-dropping is used to emphasize the socio-economic position of the two main characters; G-dropping is common in the working class of Cape Breton Island.

Changes affecting the -thing suffix
In Cockney, the -thing suffix, often affected by the G-dropping like -ing, can be pronounced with a voiceless instead. This yields for "nothing". This can be preglottalized  just like the underlying voiceless stops in "think", "limp" and "tint":. However, the nasal is frequently lost in all of these cases, being realized instead as a mere nasalization of the preceding vowel: etc. The  can disappear too, leaving a mere glottal stop behind:, just like  and  in the same environment. John C. Wells states these realizations of -thing are best analyzed as.