Re: Dutch questions

Hi!

Philip Newton writes:
> What's the difference between |f| and |v|, by the way? ISTR reading
> that |fiets| and |vier| have (at least for some people) a different
> initial consonant ... so it's not just a positional thing (|v| at the
> beginning of the syllable, |f| at the end, except for exceptions, or
> the like).
Dutch has an a three way contrast of labial fricatives.  The Standard
Dutch pronunciation is:

  <f>   /f/
  <v>   /v_0/
  <w>   /v/

So /f/ and /v_0/ are distinguished by laxness only.

We had some discussion recently about this here (in January).  Some
minimal pairs can be found here:

http://rudhar.com/fonetics/fvw.htm

This pages says about <v>: 'not very voiced, but more than f'.
Well...  I learned /v_0/ and that laxness was the distinctive feature.

**Henrik