Labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/

 

Fricatives

Fricatives are sounds that are made by friction. It is like air escaping from a tiny hole in a balloon. For fricative consonants, some parts of the vocal tract, like the tongue, lips, teeth, or the roof of the mouth, come very close to each other, making a very small narrow opening for the air to escape. Air hisses through the small in-between space. So the final sound is a friction-like hissing sound. The air stream is never completely blocked, so the sound can continue. There are 9 fricatives, which are /f/, /v/, /θ/, /ð/, /s/, /z/, /∫/, /ᴣ/, and /h/. These are pairs of fricatives that are the same in manner and place, but are different in voicing: /f/ and /v/, /θ/ and /ð/, /s/ and /z/, /∫/ and /ᴣ/. /h/ has no voiced counterpart. Regarding their place of production, /f/ and /v/ are called labiodental, /θ/ and /ð/ are called interdental, /s/ and /z/ are called alveolar, /∫/ and /ᴣ/ are called palatal, and /h/ is called glottal. We examine each pair, in turn.

Labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/

/f/ and /v/ are called labiodental fricatives since, to make these two sounds, we need to use lips and teeth. To create /f/, the jaw is held nearly closed. Air is pushed out of the mouth between the top teeth and the bottom lip. /f/ is unvoiced, and its voiced counterpart is /v/. So, to say /v/, add the vibration of the vocal chord to the pronunciation method of /f/. These are /f/, /v/ minimal pairs.

/f/, /v/ minimal pairs

fan van

ferry very

fast vast

fat vat

fee V

fine vine

foul vowel

fail veil

fear veer

feel veal

fender vendor

surf serve

Duff dove

fault vault

feign vain

feign vein

file vile

foist voiced

foal vole

fox vox

strife strive

waif waive

/f/, /v/ sentences

The knives are fine.

The farmer did not want to save the wolves in the cave.

My wife and her friends will drive the van.

The van has a fan.

The vat is fat.

It was a fine vine.

The veil failed.

We bought the fender from a licensed vendor.