I apologize if this is a silly question or not the right place to ask! I've been studying for a while now and have always been someone very sensitive to sound. This has been very helpful for picking up things like pitch accent without much trouble.
However, it's also gotten me quite hung up on the pronunciation of the letter "g" (if we're talking in terms of romaji). I keep hearing two different pronunciations, often when shown the same word spoken by two different speakers back to back. A lot of the time, it sounds less like a hard "g" and more like a "ng" sound.
For example 仕事. Sometimes it sounds like "shigoto" but more often it sounds more like "shingoto." I've noticed this with most words that have a "g" sound in it, particularly if it's in the middle of a word (rather than the beginning).
Is one more correct than the other? Is it simply how well someone is enunciating? Is it a variation in accent? Does one sound more natural than the other? Some other nuance?
Again, I'm sorry if it's a silly question. I just notice it every time I study now, and I'd like to make sure I'm practicing outputting in a way that sounds most correct or most natural so I develop good pronunciation habits.
Thank you for any advice!
by randomransack