Re: English sounds `v' and `w'

>Hi all,
>        I don't know if this is silly but I wanted to confirm the exact
>difference betwwen the sound `v' and `w' in the English language and their
>IPA representation in ASCII.  I think that both the sounds `v' and `w' ar
>not aspirated in English and the only difference is that `v'(isn't it the
>same as the hindi `v'?) is labio-dental and `w' is bilabial.  Is this right?
> Also is there any difference in the articulation of these two sounds
>between US and British English? Also, is there any online resource for
>proper pronounciation of the IPA symbols(ie. audio files)?  There are some
>audios at the IPA site, but they're too noisy to be of much help.
>
>Shanth
>``Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur''
>http://home.iitk.ac.in/student/shanth
>
>
>
 V is a labiodental fricative (I believe this is similar to the hindi v
although I'm afraid I don't speak hindi); W is an approximant, and it
is... I think the word is labio-velar. Pronouncing it, I raise the back
of my tongue so that there is only a small gap at the back of my mouth
(the velar bit), and also round my lips (the labio-bit). Having said
that, a bilabial approximant is a good approximation to w. :) As far as
I know, there is no difference between American and British English when
it comes to the pronounciation of v and w.
 This might be a bad suggestion, but if you're trying to get w right you
might try pronouncing /u/ (I assume hindi has this sound?) and then
shortening it as much as possible... in some languages (the romance
languages spring to mind), u has become similar to an english w in some
positions in words, and if I try pronouncing /uest/ for west and then
shortening the /u/ as much as possible it gets to the point where it
sounds almost exactly like west is normally pronounced to me. :)

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