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The pronounciation of the letters 'v' and 'w'...?

My first language only has a 'w' and no 'v'. So I tend to pronounce 'when' and 'van' with the same letter. How do I differentiate?

Reply 1

Dalimyr

.....what is your first language? Might be a bit more helpful if we know that :smile:

Reply 2

musicbloke

W isn't actually a consonant sound, just a very sped up ooo-ahh, whereas v is made with the lips, similar to a f.

MB

Reply 3

cpj1987

Hm...I don't see how it's possible to explain the difference between the two on here, but I'll try.

For a w, which I'm assuming you know how to pronounce, you make an 'oo' sound, then very quickly widen your mouth.

V is more like the position of a mouth before you whistle, which is then widened - with upper teeth touching the inner lower lip.

Reply 4

Aspect

Is anyone else sitting in front of their computer making over-pronounced 'W's and 'V's at the screen?

Reply 5

cpj1987

Aspect

Is anyone else sitting in front of their computer making over-pronounced 'W's and 'V's at the screen?

I did to try and build up my explanation, yes. Was watching myself in the mirror too. :p:

Reply 6

Thud

Aspect

Is anyone else sitting in front of their computer making over-pronounced 'W's and 'V's at the screen?

I'm making musicbloke's "ooh-ahh" sound... "ooh-ahh-hen"....

Reply 7

Cortez

Aspect

Is anyone else sitting in front of their computer making over-pronounced 'W's and 'V's at the screen?

Yes

Reply 8

=nuke=

Ah, I'm doing it too. :biggrin:

I never thought of the letter in the way musicbloke put it... it always just happened.

Reply 9

spamking

Aspect

Is anyone else sitting in front of their computer making over-pronounced 'W's and 'V's at the screen?

haha woops! I kinda get it now. 'V' is much 'harder' than the softer 'W'... I think.

Reply 10

=nuke=

spamking

haha woops! I kinda get it now. 'V' is much 'harder' than the softer 'W'... I think.

Yeah, it should be if you're doing it right so you probably are.

Reply 11

Profesh

musicbloke

W isn't actually a consonant sound, just a very sped up ooo-ahh, whereas v is made with the lips, similar to a f.

MB

Same with Y: 'eee-uhh'.

Also, 'pronounciation' is not a word.

Reply 12

ashy

Hehe my grandmother talks like that (Hungarian)

When is the van coming? = Ven ees de ven comeeng?

Reply 13

Sundous

w --> rounded lips both lips slightly touch each other but leaving a small gap in the middle

v --> upper teeth touch lower lip and then simply blow air I guess :p:

hope that helped.

if not and you want to get more linguistic about it try googling :

w-voiced-approximant-bilabial

v- unvoiced-fricative-labio dental

those are the exact type/manner and place of articulation of both the English sounds.

Reply 14

Angelil

^^^ aha another linguist!

We sit in class making these weird noises all the time in phonetics. I would say that the class next door probably thinks we're mad, but seeing as our building is Linguistics and Chinese Studies only, chances are next door's students are probably linguists too :p: