In the Dutch language the terminology hard and soft ⟨g⟩ (Dutch: harde en zachte G) refers to not only a phonological phenomenon of the pronunciation of the letters ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ but also indicates a major isogloss within the language. In the northern part of the European Dutch language area, these letters represent velar ( and , respectively) or uvular fricatives , the so-called hard G. However, in most northern dialects the distinction is not made anymore, and both sounds are pronounced either as or . In the southern part of the European Dutch language area, ⟨g⟩ and ⟨ch⟩ represent palatal fricatives ( and ), the so-called soft G.