Meanings
- uncountablehuman sciencesthe lenition of the voiced velar stop in the Galician language.
In contrast to the phenomena of open and close vowels, the presence or absence of the gheada is still one of the most prominent phonetic features of present-day Galician.
2007, Jaine Beswick, Regional Nationalism in Spain: Language Use and Ethnic Identity in Galicia, Multilingual Matters, page 1412 more examples
This variety is a non-standard phonological register characterized by gheada [heáða], that is, the fricativization and devoicing of the voiced velar stop: /ɡ/ -> [ɣ] (other variants are [x], [h]; for a review of the phenomenon see for example Alvarez Cáccamo 1989b:261-65).
1990, Berkeley Linguistics Society, Proceedings of the annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Berkeley Linguistics Society, v.16, page 6In addition to these feelings of inappropriateness, there are two features of the local dialects that still seem to be stigmatized among my informants: the gheada and the Galician pitch pattern.
2008, Mercedes Niño-Murcia, Jason Rothman, Bilingualism and Identity: Spanish at the Crossroads With Other Languages, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 75
Origin
- Galiciangheada
- Englishgheada
From Galician gheada.
More words from Galician
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
gheada. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gheada
“gheada.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gheada. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gheada,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gheada.
Source: gheada on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.