v pronounced as a soft b

Question

Do you always pronounce v as a soft b in Spanish? This is what my Spanish teacher claims (b.t.w. he's Brazilian) but whenever I listen to various Spanish 'live', i.e. songs, news, movies, etc. it doesn't sound so. It seems/sounds like you say a soft b when a word starts with v and you say 'regular' v when the consonant is somewhere in the middle. Am I right? I guess it's not that simple but is there any general pronunciation rule for v?

Answer 1

You may find this article, if not this site very interesting.

Remember, both the b and v sound the same, also, they both share two sounds. If you try to say v without your top teeth touching your lower lips and try to say v with both lips touching you get a b with sort of a buzzing sound, resulting in a vert light b.

The differeng sound that is heard when v or b is followed by a n or m is made unconciously (naturally), I do believe, because of the surrounding sound.

                                     Saludos

Thanks a lot!:) This has been of much help. the site's very interesting as well.dzięki!(that's thnx in Polish:>) - wyzinka, Sep 7, 2011

Answer 2

There really is no English B or V sound in Spanish. The two sounds are pretty much the same - somewhere in between. Try to say B without closing your lips all the way, or V without letting your teeth touch your bottom lip. In other words, your teacher is right. It happens from time to time.

Ok then. Well, so why do I sometimes hear more of a v sound, so to speak, than a b? Does it depend on where a Spanish speaker is originally from? - wyzinka, Sep 4, 2011

Could be. There are huge variations in pronunciation, just like in English. Or it could be what your ear is expecting to hear. It takes some time for the ear to adapt. - KevinB, Sep 4, 2011

Answer 3

Following Kevin and Lorenzo, this can be quite an issue.

There is no English "V" in Spanish, but the sound we do use can fool a person sometimes.

When there are two "V"s in a word I would swear that I hear something that would remind you of an English "v" but so soft you cannot distinguish it

" Valvula" is my example here.

I am surrounded by native speakers from various parts of Mexico, even including one fellow from El Salvador and another from Argentina. In no case do I ever hear a clear English "v".

Being an English native speaker,I have softened my "v"s to sound like they do but from time to time one sneaks in, and interestingly enough no one notices or comments.

So at the end of the day remember, in Spanish there is no "v", you must train yourself to use a soft "B" sound,but if you slip one in no one will really notice or care.

Answer 4

Initial b sounds are different from those inside words, but the same sounds are used for v.