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V phoneme /v/
The V phoneme /v/ is a consonant phoneme that’s one of the standard English phonemes.[1]
Naming[edit | edit source]
Like other phonemes, deciding on a name can be difficult. It could be called vee after its symbol. Alternatively, it might be called vuh, after its sound when initial, or lengthened to vvv /v:/. It occurs twice in some words like Viv, verve.
Classification[edit | edit source]
This can be classified as Consonant phoneme > Fricative phoneme > Bilabial fricative phoneme.
Representation[edit | edit source]
In phonemic notation using the International Phonetic Alphabet, the V phoneme is represented by lowercase V, ⟨v⟩ as its IPA symbol. This has the IPA number 129. In SAMPA and X-SAMPA, v is also used. In IPA Braille, ⠧ (1236) is used, which is also used for letter V in standard Braille.
Phonotactics[edit | edit source]
/v/ can be either initial, or final.
This can be part of the consonant clusters final consonant cluster /vd/ and final consonant cluster /vz/.
Initial consonant cluster /vr/ occurs very marginally (vroom).
Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
Standard pronunciation is as a voiced labiodental fricative [v].
It has a voiced counterpart, phoneme /f/.
Spelling[edit | edit source]
It’s reliably spelt as ⟨v⟩ or ⟨ve⟩, less commonly as ⟨vv⟩. And ⟨ph⟩ in Stephen.
| Phonogram | Example words | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ⟨v⟩ | cave, dive, live (adj), van, vine, vat, Victor, | |
| ⟨ve⟩ | above, agave, breve, carve, curve, dove (bird), eve, eave, have, give, glove, leave, live (verb), love, mauve, olive, peeve, shove, sieve, waive | |
| ⟨vv⟩ | bevvy, civvy, divvy, luvvy/luvvie, revving, navvy, savvy, skivvy | Rare. |
| ⟨ph⟩ | Stephen, nephew (alternatively with /f/) | |
| ⟨bh⟩ | Siobhan | Irish names |
| ⟨mh⟩ | Caoimhe, Mhairi, Niamh | Gaelic names. |
