V (letter): Difference between revisions
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'''v''' is rare at the end of a word, and it is most commonly found in that position pronounced '''f''' in Slavonic (i.e. Russian, Bulgarian, etc.) names: '''Rachmáninov, Prokófiev, Medvédev''' *Midvyédiff, '''Krùshchev''' (-chóff), '''Mólotov'''; it is also in '''Névsky''' (pronounced '''v''') and '''Tchaikóvsky''' (usually pronounced '''f'''). | '''v''' is rare at the end of a word, and it is most commonly found in that position pronounced '''f''' in Slavonic (i.e. Russian, Bulgarian, etc.) names: '''Rachmáninov, Prokófiev, Medvédev''' *Midvyédiff, '''Krùshchev''' (-chóff), '''Mólotov'''; it is also in '''Névsky''' (pronounced '''v''') and '''Tchaikóvsky''' (usually pronounced '''f'''). | ||
Being rare at the end, '''v''' hardly ever needs to be doubled | Being rare at the end, '''v''' hardly ever needs to be doubled; just occasionally, as in '''révved úp thê éngine''', to avoid "rêved", and '''spívvery''', to avoid "spîvery". '''v''' does not normally have to be doubled after a preceding short vowel (usually '''é'''): '''séven, cléver, héaven, éver, évery, séver, bévy, lòver, drível, cívil'''. But it doubles before final '''y''' to emphasise that the preceding vowel is short: '''chívvy, sávvy''' (compare '''chîves''' and '''nâvy'''). So '''flívver''' is unusual, and it rhymes with '''ríver'''. | ||
The preceding vowel is long in: '''êven, fêver, hâver, fâvour, sâviour, ôver, clôver, drîver, dîver, wâver, hâven''' and '''Stêven''' (= the more regular spelling of '''Stêphen''', which does not have an '''f''' sound). | The preceding vowel is long in: '''êven, fêver, hâver, fâvour, sâviour, ôver, clôver, drîver, dîver, wâver, hâven''' and '''Stêven''' (= the more regular spelling of '''Stêphen''', which does not have an '''f''' sound). |
Revision as of 09:52, 1 May 2013
V, v is a letter of the Latin alphabet. It is the twenty-second letter of most variants, being placed after U and before W, as is the case for instance in the English alphabet. Its English name is pronounced [ˈviː], vee.
V is also the Roman numeral representing the number 5.
The phoneme /v/ occurs in many languages, but is absent in many others; many speakers may substitute some kind of [b] or [u]. For example, Japanese makes use of both: ウイルス uirusu 'virus' and ライブ raibu 'live'.
Use in English
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | |
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Use in English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alphabetical word list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retroalphabetical list | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Common misspellings |
v is a labiodental fricative, partially or completely voiced, air passing between the lower lip and upper front teeth as they touch. It differs from f only in that the vocal folds vibrate, which does not occur for f: compare vîle and fîle (the accents show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings). This is in contrast to w, where both lips are used without touching each other or any teeth: compare vèil cover = vâle valley and, rhyming, wâil cry. The v sound involves more friction as air passes through the mouth; for w the lips are further apart, making the sound more vowel-like. Examples: vúlgar, véry, vāst, háve, wâve, and finally in spív, Slàv, dërv.
v is rare at the end of a word, and it is most commonly found in that position pronounced f in Slavonic (i.e. Russian, Bulgarian, etc.) names: Rachmáninov, Prokófiev, Medvédev *Midvyédiff, Krùshchev (-chóff), Mólotov; it is also in Névsky (pronounced v) and Tchaikóvsky (usually pronounced f).
Being rare at the end, v hardly ever needs to be doubled; just occasionally, as in révved úp thê éngine, to avoid "rêved", and spívvery, to avoid "spîvery". v does not normally have to be doubled after a preceding short vowel (usually é): séven, cléver, héaven, éver, évery, séver, bévy, lòver, drível, cívil. But it doubles before final y to emphasise that the preceding vowel is short: chívvy, sávvy (compare chîves and nâvy). So flívver is unusual, and it rhymes with ríver.
The preceding vowel is long in: êven, fêver, hâver, fâvour, sâviour, ôver, clôver, drîver, dîver, wâver, hâven and Stêven (= the more regular spelling of Stêphen, which does not have an f sound).
As v rarely ends words, so it rarely occurs before consonants; it does, though, in the French word for Âpril, adopted as a girl's name, Ávril.
v occurs after s to signify a whistled consonant in words from the Shona language, as in Masvíngo and Mǒrgan Tsvángiraî. English-speakers often pronounce the latter name as *Chángiraî.
Scientific uses
- V: volt, unit of electric potential (difference)
- v: velocity
- V: vanadium