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 aleovelar, /∫/ 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.

/f/, /p/ minimal pairs

/f/ and /v/ can be difficult sounds for non-natives since they can sound similar to /p/ and /b/. In fact, the four sounds occur in proximity: /p/ and /b/ between lips, and /f/ and /v/ between the top teeth and bottom lip. So we examine minimal pairs with these sounds. Let’s begin with /p/ and /f/. /p/ is a popping sound. So once the air is released by opening the mouth, it is impossible to extend the /p/ sound. By contrast, /f/ is pronounced with the top teeth touching the bottom lip. So the sound can be extended without moving the mouth just by continuing to blow through the gap between those two parts of the mouth: “fff….” 

fast past

foot put

fork pork

face pace

fan pan

fax packs

fee pea

feel peel

feet peat

fig pig

fine pine

fleas please

fool pool

found pound

full pull

fun pun

fail pale

fair pair

far par

fat pat

felt pelt

fen pen

few pew

file pile

fill pill

find pined

firm perm

fix picks

flight plight

fly ply

fries prize

fad pad

faint paint

fashion passion

fate pate

fear pier

ferry perry

fin pin

fit pit

flan plan

fold polled

folk poke

fond pond

four pour

fray pray

fro pro

froze prose

fund punned

funk punk

fur purr

phrase praise

faced paste

fang pang

flee plea

fleet pleat

flop plop

flume plume

flunk plunk

flush plush

flux plucks

foal poll

foes pose

furl pearl

fuss pus

 /f/, /p/ sentences

I have a passion for fashion.

I found a pound of gold.

I drink coffee while I copy the paper.

Pigs can eat figs.

She is fond of the pond.

She fainted when she saw how the room was painted.

The prize is the French fries.

A pun is for fun.

/b/, /v/ minimal pairs

/b/ and /v/ can sound similar since they occur in a proximal place and both are voiced. /b/ is a bilabial voiced stop, and /v/ is a labio-dental voiced fricative. Since /b/ is a stop sound, there is a sudden release of air, and the extension of the sound is impossible. By contrast, with /v/, we can continue the sound, “vvvvvv….” 

berry very

ban van

bat vat

beer veer

boat vote

bowl vole

serb serve

best vest

bet vet

bowels vowels

bale veil

bent vent

bury very

bow vow

bane vein

bat vat

beer veer

bid vid

bile vile

biz viz

bolt volt

bowl vole

broom vroom

curb curve

dribble drivel

dub dove

jibe jive

lobes loaves

rebel revel

verb verve

 /b/, /v/ sentences

The berry was very sweet.

To choose the name of the boat, they decided to vote.

The vet likes to bet.

The president bowed to the people and vowed to protect the constitution.

The bile tastes vile.

I saw the rebel revel.

The truck with beer veered off the road. 

He drove too fast through the curve and went up on the curb.