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Pre-lesson exercise: /v/ vs. /w/
The /v-w/ contrast is an important one, and one which is difficult for a lot of learners. As I said, German and Hindi/Urdu speakers come immediately to mind. German has no /w/ sound and in Hindi/Urdu both sounds are present but they are not contrastive.
/v/ is labio-dental; /w/ is bilabial.
/w/ must have no fricative noise at all, whereas /v/ should have fricative noise.
Whenever a sound is written with 'w' it is a /w/ sound; whenever it is written 'v' it is a /v/ sound.
/v/ contrasted with /w/ in initial position:
vine /vaɪn/ - wine, whine /waɪn/
veil, vale /veɪl/ - wail, whale /weɪl/
vary /ˈveəri/ - wary /ˈweəri/
vet /vet/ - wet /wet/
vest - west
verse - worse
viper - wiper
veal - wheel
And in medial position:
avail, a vale, a veil /əˈveɪl/ - a whale /əˈweɪl/
a vial /əˈvaɪl/ - a while /əˈwaɪl/
wavered - wayward
And the pair cannot be in contrast at the end of words because /w/ cannot occur in final position.
Practice sentences with /w/ and /v/:
Vincent, previously the very wariest of villains, unwisely lost his way.
Why are you always vacuous about your wishes, Victor?
The virulent virus wormed away in the computer's inner workings.
Vastly worried about the vagaries of the world, we all went away for the weekend.
And there's a terrible old joke:
'Are you a pole-vaulter?'
'No, I am German, but how did you know my name?'
Sorry about that. Not the thing at all.
/v/ – /w/
Post-lesson exercise: /v/ vs. /w/
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