When pronouncing the word long is the g silent?

Answer 1

It would seem that way, but it is technically not. The "ng" in "long" is not really an "n" or a "g" but is a single sound (called a phoneme).

If you say the word "no" and the word "go" and think about where you make the sounds, they are in completely different places ("n" is on the alveolar ridge while "g" is velar, towards the back of the throat). When you say "ng" in "long", it is said in the same place as a "g".

More specifically, a "g" is a plosive or stop (air is temporarily stopped in the mouth before the consonant is made-also "t", "d", "p" and "b"), whereas an "n" and "ng" are nasal (sound travels through the nose).

I suspect that since "ng" has the same place of articulation as a "g" and the same manner of articulation as an "n", that is why in English (and several other languages), it is often represented by both. The symbol used in phonetics to represent this sound is /ŋ/.