# Ukrainian- pronunciation of the letter B



## arhall2

Thanks for all the replies to my last post about the vowel sounds, but that discussion brought up another question.  Is there a way to determine when the letter B will be pronounced as a V or W, or is it perhaps just a matter or regional dialect at times?  My book says V before a vowel, W before or at the end of a word.  So by that logic:

* Київ*- Keh-yeew
*
Львів*- L'veew

*вчора*- wch-ora

These are just my own phonetics but I think it makes the point.  I'd also like to know from any native speakers how strongly the W sounds is emphasized, especially at the end of a word.


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## koudryashka

Hello arhall2,

I think in the words that you suggest you will hear *V* and not *W*: /ky-jiv/, /l'viv/.
However, as it's rather difficult in *вчора* to pronounce *vch* together, so you may want to use its variant spelling *учора*. In both cases *вчора/**учора*, I think, it will sound closer to *W*.


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## Selyd

Згода. Неспотворена вимова така.
Тільки *учора* пишемо тоді, коли передуюче слово закінчується на приголосну.
І дивно, *вовк* вимовляємо *w*. *вода* - вимовляємо *v*. Мабуть впливає наголос.


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## Tjahzi

Ehm, I don't think you can resolve this issue without out using IPA. After all, it seems /в/ can represent both [w], [ʋ] and possibly [v] (the latter two would both be transliterated with English /v/).


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## oleksii

There is no w sound in ukrainian, it is always v. However sometimes В can be promonsed (or even substituted in writing) as У, mainly (if not exclusively) at the beginning of the word.


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## Selyd

Tjahzi said:


> Ehm, I don't think you can resolve this issue without out using IPA. After all, it seems /в/ can represent both [w], [ʋ] and possibly [v] (the latter two would both be transliterated with English /v/).


I am afraid, that I shall translate poorly and I give on Ukrainian.
With my examples. Excuse, tried as could.
 
Фонема /w/ твориться як губно-губний [w] перед огубленими голосними /u ɔ/, *вовк*
часто й перед /ɑ/, *варта*
 а інколи й перед /ɛ ɪ/. *вечір*
Перед /i/, часто перед /ɪ ɛ/, а інколи й перед /ɑ/ твориться як губно-зубний [ʋ]. *вітер віяло*
А перед приголосними на початку слова, *втеча*
та після голосного в середині   _probably_ *ковдра*
та кінці слова  *пішов*
вона набуває більшої звучності й твориться як нескладотворчий голосний [u̯].
 
*З ВІКІПЕДІЇ (Українська фонетика)*


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## oleksii

This is utter nonsense I havn't ever heard anyone pronouncing В the way W is pronounced. I've neen trying to speak out the words you give as examples, yes В is pronounced more openly there, so to speak, but it is not even close to W pronounciation


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## arhall2

It seems strange to me too but I have two different textbooks on Ukrainian and both make reference to the "w" sound in certain instances.  All I can think of is that as an English speaker, sometimes certain consonant clusters can be difficult to pronounce, and a sort of "w-like" sound naturally comes out.   

I have, however, seen a few words that can be spelled both with B or Y, as referenced by Oleksii.

The main reason I started the thread was because I was curious if this was perhaps a regional difference within Ukraine.


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## Selyd

arhall2 said:


> I have, however, seen a few words that can be spelled both with B or Y, as referenced by Oleksii.
> The main reason I started the thread was because I was curious if this was perhaps a regional difference within Ukraine.


 
Rule of spelling - after consonant *у*чора.

Two sounds are obvious to me, I did not know about the third variant.

Who simply has taught(learnt) language or townspeople hardly well feel phonetics.
At pressure on language phonetics first of all carries losses.
Excuse for mistakes.


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## Alex_cs_gsp

selyd said:


> Згода. Неспотворена вимова така.
> Тільки *учора* пишемо тоді, коли передуюче слово закінчується на приголосну.
> І дивно, *вовк* вимовляємо *w*. *вода* - вимовляємо *v*. Мабуть впливає наголос.



Я гадаю, що таке спостерігається в усіх слов'янських мовах. Наприклад, російське слово "комната". Після "н", там більше е, ніж а. Я гадаю, що тут більше впливає попередній та наступний склад, ніж наголос. Вода - останній склад відкритий, вовк - закритий, відповідно слово "вовк" вимовляється швидко, якщо "вода", то останній склад дає змогу "потягнути" слово. Якщо вовк вимовити повільно, то "в" вимовляється як і у слові вода.


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