Pronunciation Pieces are short, light articles, each one usually focusing on an English word or phrase that illustrates a feature of phonetic or linguistic interest. They originally appeared in the series ‘Words of the Week’. They cover a wide range of topics include weak forms, contractions, linking R, T-epenthesis, G-dropping, T-glottaling, compound stress, rhoticity, vowel linking, aspiration, T/D-deletion, TH-fronting, tricky word stress, numerals, tricky spellings, negative transfer, pronouncing foreign words, accents of English, numerals, intonation, accentuation, word endings, prefixes and many others.

Sam /v/ictor /w/ood

sceplog_samvictorwoodDay 3 of the UCL Summer Course in English Phonetics brings a lecture for the first time on SCEP by globe-trotting EFL teacher and travel blogger Sam Wood.

Sam’s surname begins with /w/ and his middle name, Victor, with /v/. These two sounds can be problematic for non-natives whose L1 (mother tongue) lacks the contrast between them. I find this a good example of how powerful the influence of L1 is, because /w/ and /v/ are not very hard to make, and English spelling is pretty reliable in distinguishing them. /w/ and /v/ don’t even look alike. This is /w/:w_mouthand this is /v/:v_mouthAnyone with lips and teeth can make those gestures.

(I should point out before he sues that those pictures are of me, not Sam.)

English /w/ is a semivowel approximant, like a short version of an ‘u’ or ‘o’ vowel (‘o’ is a better reference for speakers of Japanese, which has a rather unusual ‘u’ vowel). The lips are pushed forward and the tongue is pulled back, as when you whistle your lowest-pitched note. English /v/ on the other hand is a fricative, made with more friction noise than many non-natives produce. Here are Wood and Victor, followed by their initial sounds:

 

SCEPlog 1 Postalveolar Jane    SCEPlog 2 Aspirational Paul

SCEPlog 3 Sam /v/ictor /w/ood    SCEPlog 4 Bob Ladd

SCEPlog 5 Non-rhotic Margaret   SCEPlog 6 Devoiced Cris

SCEPlog 7 Unaspirated Scott   SCEPlog 8 ‘ng’ as in Inger & Young Shin

SCEPlog 9 Nick’s commonness   SCEPlog 10 Josette and stress