Re: Labiodental approximant?

James Campbell wrote:

>Request for help:
>
>I always used to describe Jameldic "w" as being pronounced "halfway between
>[English] v and w", but I'd like to clarify exactly what this sound is, and
>how I should properly describe it. The upper teeth almost/just touch the
>lower lip, where they would touch properly for /v/. Would this be a voiced
>labiodental approximant (IPA upsilon)?
I would think so. Your description certainly warrants it.

>When I went to Holland a few years ago I discovered that Dutch "w" is very
>similar, at least for some speakers; in Norway last year I initially thought
>that Norwegian "v" was the same too, but later it seemed more like a
>bilabial fricative for some speakers and straight /v/ for others. Experts,
>please advise...
Its very likely a dialectal thing you heard in Norway. In Danish, the
eastern dialects use a labio-dental approximant in syllable-initial
position but a labio-velar in syllable-final position. In many western
dialects, especially those spoken by senior citizens, the labio-velar
is used in all positions.

-kristian- 8)