Re: English sounds `v' and `w'

Shanthanu Bhardwaj wrote:
> 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
>
>
Hindi व (and Swedish |v| BTW) is a labiodental approximant,
IPA ʋ, CXS [v\] and thus falls inbetween English /v/ and /w/:
English /v/ is a labiodental fricative, while English /w/ is a
labiovelar approximant.  What you need to do from a Hindi point
of view is to make a tenser pronunciation to get [v] and a
very lax bilabial pronunciation to get an acceptable [w].
If you can get hold of a Tibetan and ask him to pronounce
ངག་དབང་ /Na:waN/ you will hear the right sound in the middle.


/BP 8^) aka Ngawang Jimba
--
B.Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

         Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant!
                                             (Tacitus)

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